Gartner predicts that 30% of employees laid off as part of AI-driven cuts across industries will need to be rehired by 2029, often at a higher cost. Customer service is the bellwether of that trend, and the whiplash could hit contact centers sooner than most teams expect.
Along with software engineering developers, contact center staff have been "hit first and maybe hardest by the AI hype," Emily Potosky, senior director analyst at Gartner, told CX Dive. In February, the analyst firm predicted that half of companies that reduced customer service headcount due to AI will rehire staff by 2027 to perform similar functions.
The gap between AI promises and reality
There are a few factors driving the rehiring trend. AI solutions may fail to deliver on their promises. Leaders could miscalculate the cost dynamics of AI. And without purposeful change, workforce responsibilities will no longer align with what the technology actually does.
Klarna offers an early case study. The company began hiring customer service representatives more than a year after claiming its AI chatbot could do the work of 700 representatives.
"One thing that we talk to a lot of leaders about is how a lot of leaders are investing in AI hoping to cut costs through headcount reduction - again, just that flat out replacement," Potosky said. "But to actually maximize ROI from your AI investment, you really need to think about workforce reshaping."
While some companies may reduce their workforce with AI, people will never fully be replaced, Potosky said. Companies instead need to rethink responsibilities for existing workers and create new roles to support AI transformation.
New roles emerge in the contact center
Frontline reps could become "bot unblockers" who manage teams of AI agents, Max Ball, principal analyst at Forrester, told CX Dive in June. Higher-tiered representatives could become "judges" and "experts," addressing issues too nuanced for AI to handle.
Companies will also need to hire business solutions architects and knowledge managers to keep AI systems running. For customer support teams, this means the job isn't disappearing - it's changing shape. Resources on AI for Customer Support can help teams understand what that shift looks like in practice.
The economics aren't adding up yet
Many customer service leaders haven't seen the return on their AI investments. Service and support organizations spent a median of almost $6 million on AI investments in 2025, according to Potosky.
Among the AI use cases Gartner has evaluated for customer service and support, about one-quarter delivered negative returns, and about one-quarter delivered positive returns. Another 42% yielded unclear value. ROI remains elusive for most use cases.
"There's an outstanding question about whether AI prices are going to rise, and in the meantime, you still have to do all of this work from the people that you have replaced," Potosky said. "I would say that paints a picture where you are going to have to rehire people to do the same work that you attempted to eliminate."
Why this matters for customer support professionals
If you work in customer support, the data cuts both ways. Layoffs driven by AI hype are real, but so is the rehiring trend. The professionals who fare best will be those who build skills around managing and improving AI systems rather than competing with them. Supervisors who want to lead that transition can start with an AI Learning Path for Call Center Supervisors to understand how workforce optimization and AI implementation intersect in the contact center.
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