Centrica cuts 1,300 call centre jobs as AI replaces human support, signaling broader automation wave

Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, is eliminating 1,300 call centre positions because, according to CEO Chris O’Shea, most customers would rather talk to a chatbot than a human being. The announcement, made on July 23, comes on top of 500 customer service roles already axed in June across various UK locations. That’s 1,800 jobs gone in roughly two months, all in the name of automation and efficiency. The company reported rising retail profits despite falling customer numbers. The economics of replacing humans with bots O’Shea’s defense of the cuts leans on consumer preference data suggesting households genuinely prefer AI interactions. The GMB union has publicly criticized Centrica for displacing workers with automated solutions, framing the cuts as a profit-driven decision dressed up in customer-experience language. Why crypto and tech should pay attention Look at the crypto exchange landscape. Customer support has been a persistent pain point for platforms like Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken. These companies already lean heavily on automated ticketing systems and AI-assisted responses. Interestingly, Centrica itself once dabbled in blockchain. Back in 2018, the company p...