This week, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said his company was cutting 4,000 positions in its customer support department. The CEO explained the layoffs as a result of the efficiency gains made by artificial intelligence (AI). On The Logan Bartlett Show , Benioff bluntly shared that he had "reduced from 9,000 people to about 5,000, because I don't need as many people as I did before."
The CEO previously revealed that AI is now handling up to 50% of Salesforce's workload. The company also told NBC Bay Area on Tuesday:
'As a result of the benefits and efficiencies of Agentforce, the number of support requests we handle has decreased significantly, so we no longer need to hire additional support engineers to compensate.'
However, Benioff's statements have caused a backlash. Analyst Ed Zitron, speaking to CNBC, criticized the 'growth at all costs' mindset of Salesforce technology corporations, saying that this 'destroys human lives' and can make the company 'worse' by providing 'inferior quality' products. In particular, Benioff's statement 'because I need fewer heads' was seen as dehumanizing and belittling human values.
Layoffs trend across tech industry
The layoffs at Salesforce are just part of a larger wave of layoffs in the tech industry. According to Layoffs.fyi, more than 83,000 tech jobs will be cut in the U.S. alone by 2025. Human resources expert Laurie Ruettimann told CNBC that AI has directly led to many job losses, and recommended that workers acquire new skills to stay employed.
In addition to concerns about the impact of AI, tech companies have been hiring heavily during the pandemic. Now, with high interest rates and inflation sapping spending power, companies are forced to tighten staffing to survive and attract investors with the image of 'operating more efficiently.'
Positive signal for the economy?
On the other hand, falling incomes mean that inflation could cool, allowing interest rates to fall. This would make borrowing cheaper and encourage money to flow from savings accounts to the stock market. These factors could help the economy grow again, creating new job opportunities for workers.