Atlassian disputes AI as the cause for reduced customer service positions
In a clear trend that is accelerating, tech companies are increasingly adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) to handle routine and repetitive tasks, leading to workforce changes, including job displacement, especially in lower-complexity roles.
Last year, Intuit cut 1,800 roles and allocated additional investment to areas including AI. Laid-off staff will receive pay for an additional six months. However, reports suggest that the specific roles being cut were not revealed until 15 minutes later via email during a Zoom meeting.
Similarly, Cisco cut 6,000 jobs, with AI investment listed as one motivation. Atlassian, on the other hand, denies that the job cuts are due to AI, but some customers will interface with AI amid the customer service job cuts.
Atlassian is reducing 150 roles from its global workforce, specifically from the customer service and support team. Customers will be able to self-service through the embedding of AI in Atlassian's contact form, but the company insists that the roles are not being replaced by AI. Instead, the company claims that these improvements will lead to customers needing less help with the product.
Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar delivered a talk to the Australian Press Club, stating it's time to move on from "jobs from the past". Three weeks ago, Atlassian released a report suggesting that AI tools could help developers save ten hours a week, but organizational inefficiencies meant they were still overworked.
This trend is not exclusive to Atlassian. Google cut 1,000 roles, and in 2023, Dropbox cut 16% of its workforce to refocus on AI product development. Beyond the announced job cuts, other companies have also been cutting jobs in favor of AI, with some pivoting to AI-focused services and hiring AI-skilled staff.
However, not all companies are abandoning human interaction entirely. Klarna cut hundreds of jobs in customer service, stating AI could do the work, but had to reverse that plan and hire human agents once again after a fall in quality. Gartner expects the trend of rehiring customer service workers fired in favor of AI to continue as the technology fails to cover possible interactions.
The job cuts will impact employees in Australia, Canada, Germany, India, the UK, and the US. In response to the changes, Atlassian is offering a free copy of their Future Focus 2025 report with the sign-up for their daily newsletter.
As the adoption of AI continues to grow, it's clear that companies are investing in retraining programs to adapt their employees to this new reality. Farquhar reportedly advocated for the use of AI for as many tasks as possible by businesspeople, leaders, and government officials. The question remains, however, as to how this trend will continue to shape the tech industry and the broader workforce in the coming years.
[1] The Economist
[2] Forbes
[3] McKinsey & Company
[4] Microsoft Research
- The growing trend in cybersecurity, driven by advancements in technology and the adoption of Artificial Intelligence, has led McKinsey & Company to predict that businesses worldwide will invest $1 trillion annually in cybersecurity by 2025.
- Forbes recently published an article discussing the integration of Artificial Intelligence in finance, suggesting that banks and financial institutions could potentially use AI for risk management, fraud prevention, and customer service, transforming the business landscape significantly.
