Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has defended its decision to cut 1,300 call centre jobs, claiming that most households prefer interacting with AI chatbots rather than human staff. The company plans to eliminate 800 roles through a “targeted deployment of AI tools,” in addition to 500 cuts announced last month, reducing customer service teams in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Leicester, Stockport, and Leeds by 14% over two years.
Customer behaviour driving changes
Chief executive Chris O’Shea insisted that the job reductions are not primarily due to AI but rather a shift in customer preferences. “AI isn’t driving these particular job reductions; that’s mainly due to changing customer behaviour,” he said. “What we’re seeing just now is over 90% of our customers actually use digital channels in the first instance, and we’ve seen a 20% reduction in customer calls, so this simply reflects the changing customer behaviour.”
O’Shea added that the company expects to create more jobs around its digital interface, even as it reduces phone-based roles. “We’ve got to reflect the changes in customer behaviour. We expect to grow more jobs around our digital interface, and maybe having fewer people on the phones,” he stated.
Union concerns over AI
Trade unions have criticised the move, warning that investment in artificial intelligence to simplify business operations would lead to “hundreds of human jobs” being handed over to chatbots. The job cuts will occur over two years, with some roles left unfilled after resignations and the remainder through redundancies.
Rising profits despite customer losses
O’Shea’s defence of Centrica’s plans came as the company reported a rise in retail profits for the first half of the year, even as British Gas continued to lose customers to rivals. Profits from Centrica’s retail division, which includes British Gas revenues along with boiler care and smart energy products, rose to £346m from £338m in the same period last year.
The profit increase occurred despite a drop in domestic customers to 7.45 million from 7.5 million at the end of last year. O’Shea attributed this to a focus on higher profit margins from fixed-price tariffs rather than pursuing loss-making business. “We’ve focused on making bigger profit margins from our fixed-price tariffs rather than chase loss-making business,” he explained.
Compensation for prepayment meter scandal
Separately, British Gas is expected to pay up to £112m in compensation to thousands of customers who had prepayment meters force-fitted in their homes during the peak of the Russian gas crisis. This settlement is the largest ever by an energy supplier.
