Amdocs to lay off 3,000 employees - The Jerusalem Post

Ah, the Israeli tech sector's self-evisceration continues apace. Amdocs, that stalwart of billing and customer management software, has announced it will show 10% of its workforce — somewhere between 2,700 and 3,000 souls — the door, all in the name of 'adapting to the AI era.' Because nothing says 'cutting-edge innovation' like sacking a tenth of your staff before the robots have even finished the training module. This is, of course, the latest chapter in the layoff tsunami we flagged last week, where investor Oren Zeev was 'worried' that CEOs are acting prematurely. Well, worry no more, Oren — the premature evacuations are in full swing.

Amdocs, a company that provides critical infrastructure to telecom giants like AT&T and Vodafone, has decided that the solution to 'changing customer demands' is to get rid of the people who understand those demands. The company's stock might get a bump — analysts love a good cost-cutting story — but for the 2,700+ employees currently updating their CVs, the 'AI era' looks a lot like a dole queue. The Jerusalem Post, reporting the layoffs with characteristic solemnity, notes the move is to 'adapt work processes' — a phrase that in corporate speak means 'we have no idea what to do, but firing people is cheaper than thinking.'

One wonders how many more such 'adaptations' it will take before someone notices that the AI revolution's most reliable output so far has been unemployment spreadsheets. Amdocs joins a long list of tech firms — both Israeli and global — that have decided the most efficient way to 'embrace AI' is to preemptively ditch the humans. Cheaper, quicker, and far less messy than actual innovation. But hey, at least the severance packages might cover a few months of rent before the algorithm comes for the HR department too.