Executives warn of the potential impact artificial intelligence has on white-collar jobs. It is becoming an increasingly familiar story.
The latest is Allison Kirkby, CEO of British Telecommunications Giant BT. In an interview with the Financial Times published on Sunday, Kirkby said advances in AI technology could lead to further reductions for the company.
In 2023, BT announced it plans to cut up to 55,000 jobs by 2030 as part of its push to reduce its cost base by the end of the decade.
However, Kirkby told FT that the plan “doesn't fully reflect the 'potential' of AI.”
“Depending on what we've learned from AI, there may be opportunities for BT to be even smaller by the end of the decade,” she said.
BT has relied on AI in recent years to reinvent processes in areas such as customer service.
The company announced in 2024 that it was using generated AI to support sales and support operations across its mobile networking divisions, BT and EE. In December, the company said its virtual assistant at EE, known as “Amy,” handles conversations from up to 60,000 customers a week.
BT is not alone in attempts to automate such tasks. Swedish payment company Klarna is open about efforts to run customer service desks using AI.
In 2024, Klarna said that Openai-powered AI assistants are running the work of 700 full-time customer service agents.
The company's CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, is a powerful advocate for AI, but has since softened its high-tech position and said certain cost-cutting efforts have gone too far in May, and that Klarna is hiring for customer service operations.
However, Siemiatkowski believes that AI poses a major threat to future white-collar jobs.
Regarding the Times Technology podcast earlier this month, Siemiatkowski said the technology played a major role in “improving efficiency” at Klarna, with its workforce down from about 5,500 to 3,000 over the past two years.
“My suspicion is that it affects white-collar jobs and if that happens it usually leads to a recession, at least in the short term,” he added. “Unfortunately, I don't know what's going on from a technology standpoint or how to avoid it.”
AI companies themselves are warning that their products could have a major impact on the job market.
Humanity CEO Dario Amody recently warned that AI could eliminate half of its entry-level white-collar jobs within the next five years.
“As producers of this technology, we have a duty and obligation to be honest about what's coming,” Amodei told Axios in May. “I don't think this is on people's radar.
