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Headlines suggest AI drives headcount reductions. This report examines the real impact that AI is having on employees and how telcos can help their workforce become part of AI transformations that benefit the business.
Introduction
There is no doubt that AI is a transformative force across organisations. Companies are investing in this technology with the expectation that it will drive efficiency and productivity improvements and bolster value-creating capabilities. The success of their endeavours will depend on a smooth transition from old ways of working to new ones. This will entail deploying the AI solutions, integrating them into workflows and processes, and enabling workforce take-up of AI. The cross-organisational impact of the technology is expected to bring change for most employees.
STL Partners’ Future Skills Tracker 2026 evidenced hints of change at telcos and technology companies:
- Total headcount for a third of telcos remained unchanged or shrank year-on-year.
- Trends suggest that job delineation is blurring, software jobs are becoming AI roles and AI roles are driving automation.
The tracker also showed that telcos are lagging technology companies in terms of the pace of change.
This report explores whether AI is the driver of such change and what its impact on the workforce has been to date. It goes on to explore the implications for telcos and how they can ensure the sustainability and success of this change for employees and the business more broadly.
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Table of contents
- Introduction
- Job availability
- Jobs that are no longer required
- Headcount reductions to justify AI investment
- Job change
- Change in job tooling
- Change in job scope
- Change in quality of work life
- Implications for telcos
- Leadership
- Culture change
- Governance and guardrails
- Change management
- Work redesign
- Skills-based strategic workforce planning and resourcing
- Training for AI and AI in training
- What does the future hold for the telco workforce?
Related research
- Embracing AI without alienating customers
- The rise of AI at SK Telecom
- Telco generative AI adoption tracker
