Call Center Jobs Flip From 4% Growth to 4% Decline
a16z charts 15 years of ~4% annual growth ending; @kimmonismus reads it as AI replacing people.
Call center employment grew about 4% a year for 15 years, and a16z's Charts of the Week now show it shrinking 4% annually. @kimmonismus calls it one of the most important graphs of the last few months, and perhaps years: empirical evidence that AI has reached the white-collar sector, with call center agents replaced first.
@kimmonismus doubts AI creates as many jobs as it removes and says the shift needs discussion. In the replies, @alin8020 explains why call centers went first: the work was already scripted, logged and scored per ticket, so an agent could take over the same queue on day one. He lists claims, collections and scheduling as the next jobs that share that shape.