AI causes more redundancies. Uber will cut 10% of workers

A Uber decided to move forward with the dismissal of 10% of the workers of the teams that make up the platform's customer support network, with the company quoting the integration of Artificial Intelligence as the reason for the decision.

The decision was confirmed to the Bloomberg and in Uber's statement, the company notes that redundancies were made for “simplify operations, strengthen face-to-face collaboration and continue to adopt Artificial Intelligence”.

In addition to these redundancies, Uber made another decision that directly impacts the workers who remained in this division. Employees who were performing their duties remotely will have to do so from the company centres, with Uber effectively removing the teleworking option.

The Vice-President of this division, Megha Yethadka, stated in a memorandum sent to the workers that “organization has become too complex and compartmentalized”.

This way – and even if the company has “made some progress” in the implementation of Artificial Intelligence in its processes – the executive added that to implement even more tools with this technology will need to have “an effective organisation to integrate AI”.

It is important to remember that Uber is far from being the only technological company that has fired workers due to the implementation of Artificial Intelligence in their processes and teams. A Meta, for example, reduced its labour force by 10% and it is believed that the PayPal is preparing redundancies that could affect up to 20% of its workers.

Executives admit that AI will lead to redundancies in the next two years

A study carried out by consultant Mercedes indicates that 99% of executives are prepared to fire workers for the next two years. The reason is related to the greater dissemination of artificial intelligence tools.

A new report shared by the consulting firm Mercer indicates that 99% of corporate executives who participated in this study are ready to fire people in the next two years due to the implementation of artificial intelligence tools.

In the study, 12 thousand people participated not only in the management of companies, but also professionals of human resources and ordinary workers. In the answers given, it is clear that the managers of companies have a clear idea of what the dissemination of Artificial Intelligence will represent as productivity tools.

In addition to 99% of executives saying they expect Artificial Intelligence to “result in some reduction of workers in the next two years,” another 98% said they are “planning changes to the structures of their organizations in the next two years.”.

When compared with other business workers, executives also showed themselves to be the most interested in implementing Artificial Intelligence and automation in work processes. Moreover, only a third of executives said that they believe that the capabilities of humans and artificial intelligence tools can be effectively combined.