Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, plans to cut 800 jobs as part of a “targeted implementation of AI tools”, on top of the 500 jobs already announced last month.

 

According to the listed company Centrica, customers prefer AI chatbots. The company therefore sees opportunities to reduce customer service teams in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Leicester, Stockport, and Leeds by 14% over the next two years. Some positions will not be filled following redundancies, while the rest will be filled through layoffs, various British media report.

Chris O'Shea, CEO of Centrica, attributes the job cuts not to AI, but to “changing customer behavior.” According to O'Shea, more than 90% of customers initially use digital channels. The company is seeing a 20% decrease in the number of customer phone calls. O'Shea does not rule out that this trend will continue.

Under the Centrica banner, British Gas supplies gas and electricity to households, plus home services such as boiler maintenance and repairs. Centrica employs around 21.000 people and has a turnover of over 21,5 billion pounds. In the past financial year, the company managed to achieve an increase in retail profit despite a decline in the number of customers.

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Human Resources