IBM to Pause Hiring for Jobs That AI Could Do

International Business Machines Corp. Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna said the company expects to pause hiring for roles it thinks could be replaced with artificial intelligence in the coming years.

Hiring in back-office functions — such as human resources — will be suspended or slowed, Krishna said in an interview. These non-customer-facing roles amount to roughly 26,000 workers, Krishna said. “I could easily see 30% of that getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period.”

That would mean roughly 7,800 jobs lost. Part of any reduction would include not replacing roles vacated by attrition, an IBM spokesperson said.

As artificial intelligence tools have captured the public imagination for their ability to automate customer service, write text and generate code, many observers have worried about their potential to disrupt the labor market. Krishna’s plan marks one of the largest workforce strategies announced in response to the rapidly advancing technology.