Ankara\/Istanbul (ANTARA) - Technology companies are recalibrating\ntheir objectives to operate with smaller teams and leverage artificial\nintelligence (AI) instead of hiring human labour.<\/p>\n
Tech giant Meta, for instance, recently postponed further\nrestructuring plans after failing to meet its efficiency targets. Meta\nhad previously planned to lay off up to 60 per cent of employees in\ncertain teams and delegate most tasks to AI agents. However, the company\ndecided to cancel the plan because the expected targets were not\nmet.<\/p>\n
Meta halted further staff reductions following its first wave of\nlayoffs after internal data showed that AI systems did not deliver the\nexpected results and technical issues actually increased, as did the\ntime employees spent resolving them. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg\nsubsequently stated that there would be no more mass layoffs across the\ncompany this year.<\/p>\n
A similar situation occurred at the Swedish fintech firm Klarna,\nwhich has resumed hiring human staff due to service quality issues. This\nfollows their previous claim that their AI-based customer service system\ncould handle the workload of hundreds of employees, leading them to\ntemporarily halt recruitment. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski stated\nthat the company was previously too focused on cost-cutting; the new\nmodel involves using AI to handle routine tasks while still allowing\ncustomers to speak with human customer service representatives if\nnecessary.<\/p>\n
Companies are not abandoning AI entirely, but the expectation that\ntechnology will replace human labour is beginning to shift. SignalFire\u2019s\n2026 technology sector employment report shows that total recruitment in\nlarge tech companies has fallen by 25 per cent compared to 2019. While\nthe decline in software engineer recruitment was only 11 per cent, the\nproportion of software engineers in total recruitment actually increased\nfrom 46 per cent to 55 per cent. Jobs in AI engineering and machine\nlearning are experiencing growth, but positions in design, marketing,\nand product management are seeing sharper declines.<\/p>\n
The Stanford Digital Economy Lab found no evidence of widespread job\nlosses due to AI across the broader economy. However, the lab\u2019s report,\nbased on US payroll data, found that the labour absorption rate for the\n22-25 age group is lower in job types heavily impacted by AI.\nResearchers preparing the report stated that most of this impact is\ncaused by companies reducing entry-level recruitment rather than\nwidespread mass layoffs.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, workforce downsizing in the tech sector continues as\ninvestment in AI increases. Recent examples from Meta and Klarna, along\nwith recent recruitment data, suggest that companies are not relying on\nAI to fully replace human workers, but rather to shape leaner, more\ntechnical teams that utilise AI. These examples also demonstrate clear\nlimitations in attempts to increase productivity through AI by reducing\nthe number of workers.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tech-companies-re-evaluate-strategies-for-replacing-workers-with-ai-1788873016", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }