Major tech companies like Microsoft, Klarna, Meta, and Google have also conducted massive layoffs in their customer support and sales departments during 2025
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff confirmed that the company has laid off approximately 4,000 people in customer service since the beginning of 2025 due to the implementation of artificial intelligence agents.
CEO Marc Benioff confirmed that the support team was reduced from 9,000 to about 5,000 employees, explaining that “I need fewer heads” thanks to the efficiency of AI systems.
Benioff indicated that he only needed “less staff” now that the technology handles over a million consumer interactions and has reduced support costs by 17%.
The tool in question, Agentforce, manages between 30% and 50% of customer service tasks, freeing up human capacity for more complex work.
Benioff described this period (the last eight months) as “the most exciting of my career,” highlighting how AI allowed rebalancing staff without sacrificing operational efficiency.
The AI system has helped address a backlog of over 100 million potential customers that had gone unattended for decades.
Despite the technological advancement, Salesforce maintains a hybrid approach: the AI operates with human supervision, intervening in interactions that require judgment or nuances—similar to autonomous vehicles that ask the driver to take control when necessary.
This shift marks a significant difference from his previous statements, in which he argued that artificial intelligence would not lead to a “massive elimination” of administrative jobs, according to Fortune.
The rise of artificial intelligence, since the launch of ChatGPT three years ago, has pushed tech leaders to advocate for the coexistence of human workers and digital agents.
However, companies like Salesforce, Klarna, and Microsoft have made staff cuts after seeing the efficiency and cost reductions generated by automation.
Benioff explained on the podcast ‘The Logan Bartlett Show’ that a year ago, the company’s support area had 9,000 employees, but the number dropped to 5,000 thanks to automation.
“50% of interactions are with agents and 50% with humans,” the executive stated.
The integration of automated systems allows for managing, creating, reading, updating, and deleting data in the company’s cloud service.
Key implications and context
- Was this reorganization foreseeable? In July 2025, Benioff had claimed that AI would boost productivity without causing mass layoffs, betting on human augmentation. However, in light of the cuts, the strategy evolved toward a tangible reduction of customer service staff.
- Are there general layoffs at Salesforce? This is not a company-wide workforce reduction but a specific adjustment in the customer support division. Globally, the current focus appears to be redirecting resources toward areas like sales and R&D, where human assistance remains key.
- How is Salesforce responding to market pressure? This move also aims to show investors that the company is seeing returns from its heavy AI deployment while making strategic financial adjustments, such as share buybacks (in the context of other recent news).
In summary
Performance: This has allowed attention to millions of previously unattended prospects with minimal impact on customer satisfaction.
What happened: Salesforce cut nearly 4,000 customer support jobs, reducing the team from 9,000 to 5,000 people.
Why: To leverage the efficiency and management capabilities of AI, specifically the Agentforce platform.
How AI is integrated: It currently handles between 30% and 50% of customer service work, managing routine interactions and allowing human staff to be reassigned to more complex tasks.
Approach: Human supervision is maintained in critical processes. The company is not eliminating workers entirely but redefining their roles.
