Marriott has confirmed corporate job cuts in "some corporate disciplines," and reports suggest customer relations and consumer affairs teams are hit hardest, with some roles moving to Cape Town.
The recent reports of Marriott, Delta, and others, laying off customer service people is the opposite of hospitality. They should be hiring more people to take better care of their guests and customers, not less. Automating and/or offshoring isn’t making this better. Shame on these companies and the overpaid executives who made these bad choices.
1990 - The overpaid executives are paid with the excess fees which then cannot be used to hire more people . It requires 4 people to put on a fitted sheet , and it requires 4 overpaid executives to have a meeting .
the hypocrisy is that you are one of the loudest people on the internet about how much you expect to receive while touting how little you should pay.
You truly live in a fantasy world and everyone can see it.
How can one "reduce" AI if it is inherently reduced ? If AI's inability to solve problems is inherently unable , how can I render it unable ?
I work in tech. Under Biden the tech and corporate lords were all about DEI. What did DEI involve? Firing American workers with good jobs and moving key operations overseas. I endure working with overseas resources every day. Positions that just three years ago were based in the Bay area.
Today it's moved to AI. Whether AI will do as good as human at least in the interim I have my doubts but it's about getting rid of people that expect a decent pay and benefits.
@ George Romey -- I'm sorry, come again? So Biden prioritized DEI, and wanted companies to outsource jobs to other countries? Do you have any or sources to back this up, or...?
I think he made a leap in logic but there was most definitely a shift in the focus on hiring by qualifications to other factors at least here in the US.
If companies are faced w/ highly paid underperformers in the US, the option to outsource looks more attractive.
that is not the only reason and is probably not the only one but having the government intrude in decisions including about who to hire will have unintended consequences.
GeorgeRoney - DEI and AI are part of the "package" which "tech" foisted on us , together with rap , self-driving autos , and increased fares and fees . Had we not had a confusing pile of "tech" , we would be rationally living in the "good old days" . Everything "insidious" originated with someone's "new idea" . DEI . AI . and "tech" were destructive fads which caused worse .
The idea of US based customer service is gone. and it is not just a US thing but most developed countries.
and the question is whether someone would rather deal w/ AI or a person that speaks English so badly that you can't understand them.
Corporate America has tried the outsourcing to foreign countries and most people don't like it.
AI at least the potential to understand and be understood and to apply logical rules to resolve situations - if the company chooses to give AI that power.
With all the focus on tariffs to bring manufacturing back to the US, which just results in higher prices, it’s a shame there’s no effort to keep Customer Service jobs in the US. I preferred my microwaves made in China, but my customer service given by US employees.
Ambassador service has really gone downhill. Granted that's stating the obvious, and my ambassador ~10 years ago wasn't that great, but it's basically a hotline now and you get nothing unless the property wants to upgrade you. Gone are the days of a custom response, amenity that you actually liked, etc. I find myself traveling with Marriott for work but splurging on non-Bonvoy properties for vacations now.
I think it's a positive development for customers if they really are replacing US-based customer service agents with ones in CPT, as what I'd expect from Marriott would've been to get rid of humans altogether and just delegate everything to software.
"Marriott is increasingly leaning into AI customer service..."
"AI" and "customer service" is an oxymoron if ever there was one. When AI attempts customer service it's still no better than a non-AI decision tree or customer service script run by a human. It is confounding and frustrating, and countless companies now simply disconnect the caller if their AI "system" is unable to solve a problem.
Marriott really is sucking.