Microsoft cut 10,000 support jobs through AI, Bloomberg reports

A wave of AI-driven restructuring is sweeping through customer service departments at some of the world's largest companies, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Microsoft ↗ 2.22%, and Uber ↗ 2.04% collectively eliminating thousands of human support roles as automated systems take on a growing share of routine inquiries.

Corporate Cutbacks Accelerate

Bloomberg reported on Monday that Microsoft has trimmed its customer service workforce from roughly 50,000 to 40,000 through AI adoption. The company disclosed in 2025 that it had saved more than $500 million in a single year by deploying AI across its call centers, according to Reuters.finance.yahoo+2

Uber announced last week that it cut 10% of its community operations team, marking the first time the ride-hailing company has explicitly tied layoffs to AI. "We're working to simplify operations, strengthen in-person collaboration, and continue to embrace AI," an Uber spokesperson told Bloomberg.finance.yahoo+2

In Australia, CBA Commonwealth Bank of Australia has been steadily shedding roles as it rolls out AI-powered tools. The bank notified the Finance Sector Union earlier this year of plans to cut 300 positions across retail, business, and institutional banking. In July, it announced a further 176 technology and engineering job cuts, with the bank attributing the reductions to "workflow automation, organisational realignments, streamlining, and the consolidation of existing functions," according to the union. CBA CEO Matt Comyn acknowledged in May that AI will mean smaller teams and said there is "no use pretending otherwise".acs+3

A Broader Shift Underway

The corporate moves track closely with projections from Forrester ↗ 3.58%, which predicted in a May report that 49% of current customer service jobs will disappear by 2030. High-volume business-to-consumer contact centers handling hundreds of thousands of monthly inquiries will face the steepest reductions, the analyst firm said.forrester+2

"There are humans today doing jobs that don't require the level of intelligence that a human has," Max Ball, principal analyst at Forrester, told CX Dive. "That work is going to go away".customerexperiencedive

Not Without Pushback

The trend is not without friction. In Australia, union pressure forced CBA to reverse a 2025 decision to replace 45 customer service workers with AI, offering buyouts instead of outright cuts. And a CNBC report from earlier this month found that some employers who laid off workers in favor of AI are already starting to regret the decision, as the technology struggles with complex or emotionally sensitive interactions. Forrester itself noted in January that only 6% of all U.S. jobs would actually be fully automated by 2030, even as the reshuffling of roles accelerates.investor.forrester+2