IBM is set to stop hiring in back-office functions, like human resources and other non-customer facing roles, as these can be replaced with AI in the near future. Earlier this year, IBM announced job cuts which would make 5,000 workers redundant once completed.
Arvind Krishna, CEO of IBM, said 30 percent of such positions can be readily replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period. This means about 7,800 jobs would be lost. Currently, IBM employs about 260,000 workers and continues to recruit for software development and customer-facing roles. Krishna believes finding talent is easier today than a year ago.
According to a study by IBM Institute of Business Value, global AI adoption rate grew steadily, and now is 35 percent, a four-point increase from the year before. It noted that getting projects into production and applying AI to address enterprise-wide use cases remains challenging for most organizations.
Krishna said more mundane tasks like providing employment verification letters, or moving employees between departments will most likely be fully automated. But he added that some HR functions, such as evaluating workforce composition and productivity, probably won’t be replaced over the next decade.