Italian unions warn of job losses in contact center sector due to AI

Labor unions in Italy, including UIL and UGL Telecomunicazioni, are warning of a structural crisis in the contact center sector driven by the rapid integration of artificial intelligence. Automation through chatbots, automated voice systems, and management algorithms is threatening to replace human labor, potentially leading to approximately 100,000 redundancies across Italy.

In Sicily, officials estimate at least 10,000 jobs are at risk, a region where the sector has historically provided stable employment for women and youth. Specific concerns were raised regarding Telecontact, a TIM Group company, where 1,600 employees face a 20% wage reduction following industrial reconversion.

Union leaders are calling for government intervention, including increased resources for social safety nets, professional retraining, and stricter oversight of labor costs in competitive bidding. They are also advocating for the enforcement of the EU AI Act to ensure transparency, specifically regarding the right of users to know if they are interacting with a human or a machine. Additionally, UGL has proposed a reshoring strategy to bring call center activities back to Italy from non-EU countries to bolster employment in the South.