In brief: Amid multiple depressing reports of AI causing job layoffs and white-collar workers under threat, here's some rare positive news: IBM is tripling the number of entry-level workers it plans to hire in the US this year. The company said the new positions will focus on tasks requiring human judgment, customer interaction, and oversight of AI systems.
Nickle LaMoreaux, IBM's chief human resources officer, gave hope to entry-level hires who are often the most at risk of losing out to AI when it comes to getting – and holding onto – a job.
"The companies three to five years from now that are going to be the most successful are those companies that doubled down on entry-level hiring in this environment," LaMoreaux said.
The exec added that IBM will be tripling its entry-level hiring for "software developers and all these jobs we're being told AI can do."
LaMoreaux did admit that several responsibilities that had been part of IBM's entry-level jobs are now handled by AI, but the company has rewritten some of these roles to focus on those tasks less suited for automation.
Examples include software engineers spending less time on routine coding and more time on interacting with customers. HR staffers, meanwhile, will work on taking more questions that chatbots can't handle.
LaMoreaux said this will create skills for workers while creating greater long-term value for the company.
The pledge will be especially welcomed by young people looking for work – a Korn Ferry report in November found that one-third of companies plan to replace entry roles with AI.
The announcement is a stark reverse in strategy for IBM. It said late last year that it would cut thousands of jobs globally as part of restructuring and a shift toward AI, software, and higher-margin services. It had already eliminated thousands of administrative roles as AI automated routine tasks, particularly in HR and back-office operations.
CEO Arvind Krishna had been a particular advocate of AI. In 2023, he told Bloomberg that he envisioned about 30% of positions at IBM being replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period, and that it expected to pause and slow hiring for roles that it believes could be replaced with artificial intelligence at some point in the future. However, IBM seemed to backtrack again, later saying it saw no layoffs due to AI.
It seems the more that AI proliferates in companies, the stronger the public pushback grows. Beyond the job concerns, many people dislike speaking to company chatbots that often fail to solve queriers. As such, firms like IBM, Dropbox, and Klarna are have been emphasizing their commitment to hiring humans.
News that IBM is tripling hiring of entry-level positions comes soon after Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman warned that AI could wipe out most white-collar jobs within 12 months.