Paycom announces layoffs, replacing roles with AI
By Kilee Thomas
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OKLAHOMA CITY (KOCO) — Paycom laid off more than 500 employees in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, replacing their roles with artificial intelligence tools as part of a workforce restructuring strategy.
The affected employees received a text message from the company instructing them not to come into work, with the company terminating what they called “back-office roles.”
An anonymous employee, who was let go and interviewed by KOCO, said, “I first found out through a text message. It says, ‘Please do not come into the office today.'”
The employee expressed uncertainty about the impact of automation, questioning whether it would benefit clients or simply eliminate jobs, saying, “Like, you can say the word automation all day long but is it for our clients? It’s not for us. Is it for us? I don’t know. Is it going to make our job process easier or is it going to eliminate my job?”
The employees were asked to join an online webinar at 8:30 a.m., where they learned their jobs had been eliminated.
The anonymous employee described the experience, saying, “You could tell they were just reading off a script. It didn’t feel heartfelt at all. I was crying. I was crying the entire time.”
Paycom referred to the layoffs as a “workforce restructuring” strategy, stating that advanced automation technologies would impact a limited number of non-client facing roles.
However, multiple employees disputed this, with one saying, “We’re all client facing, so if Paycom said it wasn’t, that’s not true.”
The terminated employees were informed that their belongings would be shipped to them and they would receive a 10-week severance and transition assistance.
The anonymous employee shared their surprise, stating, “I’m well aware of AI but I never thought it would happen to me.”
Paycom said they are still hiring across several departments, even after the layoffs, but the positions let go will be handled by AI.
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