2023-10-24 08:03:49
The company Onclusive, specializing in media monitoring, has decided to eliminate half of its workforce to replace them with intelligent robots. A humiliation for employees, who fear being only the first in a massacre of jobs linked to the arrival of artificial intelligence.
This is probably the first PES of its kind, but unfortunately it is likely not to be the last. At the beginning of September, the 383 employees of Onclusive France, a company responsible for compiling press content and providing summaries to different stakeholders, received a terse email from the company’s international management, informing them of the deletion of 217 positions – or more than half of the workforce – by next June. We knew that a social plan was in the pipeline, but we did not imagine that the entire production department would be impacted, confides Bruno, FO union representative.
But the biggest shock for employees was caused by the justification given to this PSE by management: the arrival of new technologies and new tools that will rationalize [les] operations. Clearly, 217 jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence. Bruno highlights the humiliation that accompanies this feeling of being considered as old, obsolete tools. Responsible for providing precise and concise information to numerous public services and companies, from L’Oréal to the Banque de France via the government information service, the employees of the production department felt sheltered.
Behind the social level, relocations
Bought from Kantar in 2022 by the American investment fund Symphony Technology Group, Onclusive has been experiencing economic difficulties since the Covid crisis, with a turnover falling by several million euros. Four years ago, we were market leaders, then the competition became tougher, recalls Bruno. She took on major clients by offering prices 30% to 40% lower than ours. The company’s management hopes to rebalance its accounts with machines that are less expensive than a payroll.
Behind this social plan and the use of artificial intelligence as justification, relocations are also hidden in reality. Part of the production – mainly article cutting work – has already been relocated to Madagascar a few years ago, and part of the finance department should soon be sent to Morocco. We have no illusions, these are matters of profit, decided from above by Onclusive World, believes Bruno, bitterly. The cynicism of leaders dismays us.
Doubts regarding the effectiveness of AI in the sector
The anger is all the stronger as this strategy raises many doubts among those who know their job well: An AI is supposed to be faster than a human, concedes the delegate. But our clients are not looking for information by the ton: they want finesse and precision. In my opinion, only the human eye can carry out this sorting. Press review managers also spend a significant amount of time in direct contact with their recipients. Customers are not necessarily reassured that an AI is doing their press review, they also want men and women on the line, says the delegate. Management is betting on 80% satisfied customers and 20% losses.
Faced with a social plan now considered inevitable, FO elected officials are working with all their might to negotiate a dignified PES, which will allow people to leave with the means to retrain and change their lives, explains Bruno. With an average seniority of 18 years in the company, laid-off employees will certainly struggle to find employment in the sector. These are niche professions, and many are close to retirement: they will need a lot of help, and financial compensation commensurate with the sacrifice required of them, says Bruno. Despite a score of 27% in the last professional elections, FO also risks disappearing from Onclusive with the social plan, all the activists being on the move.
A lack of transparency and respect towards employees
As the negotiations did not quite get off to a good start, the elected staff members asked management to have a fair speech, explains Bruno. Indeed, the media buzz linked to the replacement of employees by intelligent robots has put the company under pressure. The situation hardly improved when the CEO of Onclusive Monde, Rob Stone, allowed himself during a videoconference meeting to make a risky and, to say the least, indelicate comparison between his future ex-employees and races of dogs. The delegates would therefore like to bring greater transparency and respect into the negotiations. Two notions which have been lacking until now: last June, during a meeting with the president of Onclusive France, Bruno raised the question of AI. I asked: is management interested in this? I was told: no, it’s too expensive.
FO activists would like their example to serve as a wake-up call. We are only the first in a long series of AI-related layoffs to come, Bruno fears. Trade unionists and leaders must be aware that this is a very profound social and economic revolution, and not in the good sense of the word.
According to a study by Goldman Sachs, up to 300 million jobs worldwide might disappear with the new wave of artificial intelligence. The activist is also annoyed to hear the champions of AI boasting, in return for layoffs, the creation of new jobs. At Onclusive, 24 new positions were promised: not enough to rebalance the balance. According to our information, the tools are developed in India. This is a net loss for employment in France.
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