Many fear AI (artificial intelligence) taking away jobs. But there are companies that plan to use the technology to avoid layoffs. The consulting giant
Deloitte
is reportedly looking to artificial intelligence to avoid mass job cuts. According to a report in Bloomberg, Deloitte LLP is using AI to evaluate existing staffers’ skills and map out plans that would shift employees away from quieter parts of the business and into roles that are more in demand.
It’s reported to be part of the broader bet by the company to use the technology to moderate hiring growth over time.
Deloitte's move to retain its employees using AI comes after the company hired in large numbers in the years after the pandemic. Deloitte is said to have added 130,000 employees to its global headcount earlier this year. Deloitte’s total headcount is now nearing 460,000 after the hiring spree earlier this year. That’s triple the number of new hires compared with a decade ago, when revenue was roughly half of what it is today.
Doom and gloom
In the midst of these hirings, the company is said to have warned thousands of staffers in the US and UK that their jobs were at risk of becoming redundant after the company was forced to restructure certain areas of the business in response to a slowdown in demand.
“It is obviously a great objective to be able to avoid large swings of hirings and layoffs,”
Stevan Rolls
, global chief talent officer at Deloitte, told Bloomberg. “You could always be more efficient and effective about finding the right people.”
“Let’s imagine Deloitte was so successful and we doubled our size again, I’d be really worried about hiring a quarter of a million people a year,” Rolls said. “It might not be fewer, but it might be the same as we hire now.”
Incidentally, Deloitte seems to be among several consulting companies trying to figure out how to deal with all their new hires, especially as business remains slow amid an uncertain economy. Others in the list are said to be Bain,
Boston Consulting Group
and McKinsey.
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