British Gas owner says customers prefer AI chatbots as 1,300 call centre jobs cut

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, plans to cut 1,300 call centre jobs, with 800 cuts tied to a "targeted deployment of AI tools" and 500 cuts confirmed last month. The reductions will affect customer service teams in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Leicester, Stockport and Leeds, reducing staff by 14% over two years. Some roles will be left unfilled after resignations, while the balance will come from redundancies. Trade unions have previously said the company's investment in artificial intelligence would lead to "hundreds of human jobs" being given to chatbots. Chief executive Chris O'Shea stated that the changes are driven by changing customer behaviour, not AI, noting that over 90% of customers use digital channels first and there has been a 20% reduction in customer calls. Centrica reported a rise in retail profits to £346m in the first half of the year, from £338m in the same period last year, despite British Gas domestic customers falling to 7.45 million from 7.5 million. The company is also expected to pay up to £112m in compensation to customers who had prepayment meters force-fitted during the Russian gas crisis.

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Sources: The Guardian