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DHL Deploys AI To Fill Retirement Gap as Third of German Workers Near Exit (ft.com)

(Monday August 25, 2025 @11:28AM (msmash) from the demographic-cliff-meets-neural-net dept.)


DHL's German operations, facing the departure of one-third of support staff within five years, has [1]automated customer service calls and begun capturing institutional knowledge through AI-conducted exit interviews. The company's voicebot now processes one million monthly calls, resolving half without human intervention, though initial deployments struggled with basic German language recognition.

FT adds:

> At DHL in Germany, one in three staff working in support operations will retire in the next five years, taking with them decades of institutional memory. "Everyone in Germany understands that if you don't automate and use AI, you won't be able to deal with the shrinking workforce," says Gemein [chief information officer for post and parcels].



[1] https://www.ft.com/content/ce09786f-2481-44fe-957c-f7bb0b43e284


Like self checkout (Score:4, Interesting)

by larryjoe ( 135075 )

Replacing humans with AI for customer service is not exactly but somewhat similar to using self checkout at the grocery store. A lot of times, I can do what I want, but when I need something more complex then it's impossible without calling over a human. The frustration comes from not being able to get a human immediately. However, with the self checkout, I can wave my hand and flag down a human. On a phone, I can't do that, so it will likely be more frustrating.

For both self checkout and customer service, the corporate KPI metrics are rate of customers processed and cost of employees. Unfortunately customer satisfaction is lower on the list.

Re: (Score:2)

by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 )

What's an onion sticker?

Re: (Score:2)

by ack154 ( 591432 )

Took me far too long to figure this out at Wegmans with donuts. But it's what the other person just replied with - there's a button and basically a text search or PLU code. For something like donuts or muffins, you can enter the quantity, but produce will have a code and need a weight.

Re: (Score:2)

by serviscope_minor ( 664417 )

Don't worry I'm sure that AI will improve their [1]already excellent customer service [trustpilot.com].

[1] https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/send.dhlparcel.co.uk

Poor Gemein (Score:4, Insightful)

by Teun ( 17872 )

That name Gemein has in German a meaning and it's not positive...

Re: (Score:2)

by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

I do wonder if anyone says mean things about him.

Don't do exit reviews for free. (Score:2)

by hwstar ( 35834 )

Make 'em pay for the information. This is not America, they can't do despicable things like withhold your final check for an unreasonable amount of time, or not pay out your accrued vacation.

I've never done an exit review because employers tend to not act on the advice anyway.

Re: (Score:2)

by bagofbeans ( 567926 )

Something the union could negotiate...

A lot of room for efficiency improvement (Score:2)

by greytree ( 7124971 )

DHL won't tell you when they will arrive beyond 9-5, but they must be able to narrow that down once the driver is underway, and even more so as they near my house.

That means I cannot tell them if I will be home when they come ( to sign for the package ).

So when I am out, they have to do the whole delivery again.

Up your game, DHL.

Gemein (Score:2)

by pahles ( 701275 )

Das ist gemein!

Remarkably Unwise (Score:2)

by Spinlock_1977 ( 777598 )

Does anyone else see this as short-sighted? Fast forward ten or 15 years and all the institutional knowledge from the support staff will have been captured in the AI vendor's system, and then they'll change DHL anything they want. This is "IP Lock-In".

I look forward to ... (Score:2)

by PPH ( 736903 )

... next year's [1]Nordschleife [youtube.com].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX5Y1jcoUXE?t=1m35s

It's possible to imagine a future... (Score:2)

by MpVpRb ( 1423381 )

... where AI can do perfect customer support

Today's AI will be maddening and frustrating

I'm all in favor of developing the tech and deploying it when it's fully tested and reliable

Unfortunately, managers tend to throw immature stuff out in the world and let customers test it, then ignore the angry responses

struggled with basic German language recognition (Score:2)

by nospam007 ( 722110 ) *

The darn Bavarians I suppose.

"I vasteh koa oanzigs Woid, wos’d do daherredst."

Couple of issues... (Score:2)

by bradley13 ( 1118935 )

First, I'll bet a lot of "resolved" issues are people just giving up. That's only "resolved" in the sense that the company doesn't have to deal with it.

Second, anyone who has spent any time in Germany ought to know about dialects. Only a tiny part of Germany speaks "pure" Hannover-style German. Someone from Bavaria is nearly incomprehensible to someone from near the Dutch border. Sure, many people can speak tone down their dialect, but many won't, and others (for example, elderly) cannot.

The AI bots are

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