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Glassdoor and Indeed cut 1,300 jobs as parent company bets big on AI

The restructuring is part of the broader strategy to streamline hiring using AI and automation

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Glassdoor and Indeed cut 1,300 jobs as parent company bets big on AI

Recruit Holdings, the Japanese parent company of job search platforms Indeed and Glassdoor, has announced the layoff of approximately 1,300 employees, or 6% of its HR Technology segment workforce.

The cuts come as the company accelerates its investment in AI and prepares to consolidate operations between the two platforms.

In an internal email sent to staff on Thursday, Recruit Holdings CEO Hisayuki “Deko” Idekoba praised the transformational role of AI.

“AI is changing the world, and we must adapt by ensuring our product delivers truly great experiences. Delivering on this ambition requires us to move faster, try new things, and fix what’s broken,” he wrote.

The redundancies will primarily impact research and development teams, as well as people and sustainability departments within the USA, though other regions and roles will be affected.

Recruit Holdings says it will begin notifying affected employees immediately.

As part of the changes, Glassdoor CEO Christian Sutherland-Wong will depart the company, and Glassdoor’s operations will be folded into Indeed.

The restructuring is part of Recruit Holdings’ broader strategy to streamline hiring using AI and automation.

Speaking at the JPMorgan Chase technology conference in May, Idekoba pointed to the sheer scale of manual labour in the HR industry. He said HR is a “$300 billion-plus industry, but it includes like 60% or 65% of human labour manual cost.”

“What we believe is, basically, how can we simplify hiring using AI and technology and data to reduce manual work. That’s what we are focusing on.”

Idekoba further revealed that around one-third of the company’s new code is being written by AI, a figure he expects to rise to 50% “pretty soon.”

Similar developments are occurring at other tech giants. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in 2024 that 50% of its code is now written by AI, up from 25%, while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella noted that AI writes 30% of Microsoft’s code, with plans to reach 60%.

The layoffs reflect a wider pattern in the tech industry, as firms race to restructure, eliminate layers of management and harness the cost-saving potential of generative AI.

Just last week, Intel announced 4,000 job cuts across the USA, including 2,392 in Oregon.

Microsoft said in May that it was eliminating 6,000 positions or around 3% of its global workforce, despite robust financial results.

The same month, cybersecurity leader CrowdStrike announced it would lay off 5% of its staff.

AI’s disruptive impact on white-collar employment has become an increasingly urgent topic among corporate leaders.

Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival in June, Ford CEO Jim Farley warned that AI could replace “half of all white-collar workers in the US.”

Companies including Amazon, Anthropic and JPMorgan Chase have expressed similar concerns, forecasting massive transformations in knowledge-based industries.

Originally Appeared Here

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