Artificial intelligence (AI) is starting to affect white-collar jobs, with customer service emerging as a key area of impact. Earlier in August 2026, Uber cut about 10 percent of its customer support team to "simplify operations, strengthen in-person collaboration, and continue to embrace AI," a company spokesperson confirmed to NewsNation. Megha Yethadka, Uber’s VP of global community operations, described AI as shaping entire industries and an opportunity to "accelerate output" and "improve quality."

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff credited AI with enabling the company to reduce 4,000 customer support roles. Microsoft has also trimmed its customer service workforce in recent years, according to Bloomberg.

These changes reflect benefits companies see in AI, including lower costs, faster response times, and 24/7 support. However, customer service job postings on Indeed remain about 10 percent below pre-pandemic levels in the U.S., while overall job postings on the platform are slightly above those levels.

Verizon CEO Dan Schulman stated in July 2026 that he expects AI to displace "a large percentage" of customer service work over time. Yet, some experts caution that AI is not yet fully capable of replacing human agents. Emily Potosky, senior director of research in Gartner’s customer service practice, said in February 2026, "AI simply isn’t mature enough to fully replace the expertise, empathy, and judgment that human agents provide."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were approximately 2.8 million customer service jobs in the United States in 2024, underscoring the sector’s significance amid these technological shifts.

Sources