IBM to freeze hiring for 7,800 jobs that could be replaced by AI, Bloomberg reports

IBM's CEO Arvind Krishna (Image credit : IBM) According to Arvind Krishna, the company's CEO, IBM, an international computer powerhouse with its headquarters in New York, is ceasing hiring for positions that are not customer-facing and may be eliminated by artificial intelligence. According to Krishna, the job losses will mainly affect positions that don't deal directly with customers, such human resources, which employs about 26,000 people. "I could easily see 30% of that getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period," Krishna told Bloomberg, referring to a number that corresponds to about 7,800 employment. While those who hold these positions now won't be let go, an IBM spokesperson told the news source that any positions left vacant by attrition wouldn't be filled. According to an earlier Bloomberg article, the corporation, which has around 260,000 employees, announced job cuts early this year that would have affected 1.5% of its workforce. A spokesperson for IBM told Insider in an emailed comment: "There is no blanket hiring 'pause' in place. IBM is being deliberate and thoughtful in our hiring with a focus on revenue-generating roles, and we're being very selective when filling jobs that don't directly touch our clients or technology. We are actively hiring for thousands of positions right now." Also read : After Hiring Freeze, Amazon to start hiring for cloud units in 2023 The exponential growth of ChatGPT's capabilities in recent months has alarmed experts about potential effects on the labor market. According to a previous Insider analysis, the tech, media, and legal industries are among those most likely to be affected.