The chief executive officer of IBM has said that the company is likely to pause hiring for roles it thinks could be replaced with artificial intelligence, with as many as 7,800 jobs potentially set to be eliminated.

In an interview with Bloomberg, IBM chief exec Arvind Krishna said that back-office hires will be suspended or slowed, noting that "I could easily see 30 per cent of that [26,000 total] getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period."

Tasks such as providing employment verification letters or moving employees between departments will likely be fully automated, while HR functions like evaluating workforce composition and productivity "probably won't be replaced over the next decade," the report notes.

Should they manifest, Krishna's plans would be one of the largest workforce strategies announced to date in response to advancements in AI.

The company, which currently employs around 260,000 workers globally, earlier this year announced job cuts of around 5,000. Krisna however told Bloomberg that the company had added about 7,000 staff in the first quarter of 2023.

Share Story: