Ford’s Experience with AI and Workforce Reductions
Ford, a U.S. automaker, laid off 5,000 employees between 2020 and recently as it introduced artificial intelligence (AI) for vehicle quality inspections and design reviews. Despite this, quality issues continued to occur. In the past year alone, Ford conducted 152 recall cases, which was the highest in the U.S. automotive industry. Eventually, the company rehired 350 veteran engineers, including retirees, to address these quality problems. These engineers are now educating younger employees, leading design reviews, and working on improving AI tools.
Ford acknowledged that "AI is an excellent tool, but it only works as well as the information it is trained on." The company admitted that they had misjudged the effectiveness of simply introducing AI and inputting requirements to achieve high-quality products.
Klarna’s Shift Back to Human Workforce
Swedish fintech company Klarna introduced an AI assistant in 2024, claiming it could handle the workload of 700 human agents. As a result, the company reduced its human agent workforce by over 1,000 people. Focusing on AI development, Klarna halted new hiring for over a year. However, after six months, customer satisfaction dropped significantly. This led to the decision to begin rehiring customer service staff to allow customers to speak with human employees when needed.
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski stated, "Our strategy focused solely on cost reduction was excessive," and "Investing in improving the quality of human consultations is what we will do moving forward."
Survey Findings on AI and Hiring Decisions
According to a survey by recruitment consulting firm Robert Half, 32% of 2,000 U.S. hiring managers reported that they had eliminated certain roles due to AI and later rehired for the same positions. Market research firm Forrester reported that 55% of employers regretted laying off employees due to AI. Gartner projected that half of companies that reduced customer service and operational staff due to AI will rehire similar roles by 2027. Gartner emphasized that "AI is not mature enough to fully replace the expertise, empathy, and judgment provided by humans."
IBM’s Challenges with AI in HR
U.S. IT company IBM introduced "AskHR," an AI that replaces human resources tasks such as leave applications and payroll management, automating 94% of routine HR tasks. IBM reduced its HR staff by over 200. However, the AI chatbot failed to address the remaining 6% of tasks, including ethical dilemmas, complex organizational issues, and communication problems with employees. IBM, which had considered reducing its clerical workforce by 7,800 (30%), decided to triple new hiring in the U.S. this year.
Entry-Level Developer Roles Under Pressure
Roles with high repetitive tasks, such as entry-level developers and clerical staff, are being rapidly replaced by AI. According to Stanford University’s Human-Centered AI Institute (HAI) "2026 AI Index" report, employment of software developers aged 22–25 in the U.S. decreased by nearly 20% compared to 2022. In contrast, employment of developers in their 30s–40s increased by 10–15%. Companies now prefer skilled workers who can review AI-generated code and design entire systems.
According to U.S. recruitment consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the number of employees laid off by U.S. companies due to AI increased from 12,742 in 2024 to 101,743 in the first half of this year. While AI has reaffirmed the necessity of human roles in certain areas, it is already pressuring workforce reductions in entry-level and repetitive tasks that are easy to automate.
Demand for Human Skills in AI Companies
Even in Silicon Valley AI companies, demand is higher for roles only humans can perform. AI company Anthropic is hiring for a "Community Lead" position, which focuses on fostering communication between people. The salary for this role, which emphasizes collaboration over technical development, reaches up to $320,000 (approximately 500 million Korean won). A tech industry insider stated, "Human judgment, communication skills, and field experience—areas AI cannot replicate—are becoming even more critical," and "As companies adopt AI, the value of talent that can verify AI outputs, handle exceptions, and persuade people will only grow."
Membership Offers
월 5900원 멤버십, 신문 독자에게는 2900원, 조선멤버십
55000원 상당의 신문-잡지 8종 마음껏 보기, 조선멤버십
현금처럼 쓸 7000포인트 받아 알뜰한 쇼핑, 조선멤버십
No comments:
Post a Comment