Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the workforce in America’s tech sector. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff confirmed the company has slashed its support staff from 9,000 to 5,000, attributing the 4,000-job reduction directly to AI replacing human roles.
Benioff revealed the shift during an appearance on The Logan Bartlett Show, citing AI agents as the primary driver behind the cuts. These agents—developed by Salesforce—handle a range of tasks including customer support, marketing, and site management without constant human input. The company claims fewer support cases and higher efficiency have made hiring new support engineers unnecessary.
This downsizing reflects a growing trend in Silicon Valley. Major tech companies continue cutting human jobs while expanding AI infrastructure. Benioff said AI now handles up to 50% of Salesforce’s workload. In June, he praised AI for significantly reducing overhead and increasing productivity, though he insisted humans are still needed to supervise AI operations.
The impact extends far beyond Salesforce. A Stanford study found AI has hit younger professionals the hardest, especially in fields like software development, customer service, translation, and reception. Employment among software developers aged 22 to 25 has dropped nearly 20% since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. Meanwhile, job numbers for older developers have held steady or grown.
Stanford economist Erik Brynjolfsson said the decline among young workers can’t be fully explained by macroeconomic forces like interest rates or COVID-related disruptions. The data shows a clear pattern: AI is disproportionately replacing entry-level roles, traditionally seen as stepping stones into corporate careers.
Other industry leaders have echoed Benioff’s view. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently acknowledged that AI will reduce the company’s headcount as automation tools increase productivity. In San Francisco and other tech hubs, anxiety continues to grow among professionals in once-secure fields like coding and writing.
Despite the job losses, research from McKinsey & Co. shows that most companies using generative AI have yet to see major gains in profits. AI tools are still limited in many workplaces, often used only for basic tasks like chatbot functions. Salesforce appears to be among the exceptions. Benioff said the company had over 100 million leads over the years that went unanswered due to staffing shortages. With AI now in place, sales teams can respond faster and more broadly, overseen by supervisors coordinating human-AI collaboration.
