“‘We introduced AI, and now we spend an extra hour after shifts just on post-call processing’”, 22 January 2026

A survey has found that 63.1% of call centre workers experienced customer complaints related to AI systems introduced at their workplaces, with the average number of daily complaints rising from 8.55 to 10.08 following the adoption of artificial intelligence. While some workers had expected working conditions to improve with the introduction of AI (23.7%), a majority reported that conditions had in fact worsened (60.8%).

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) Central Research Institute released the findings on Wednesday afternoon at the FKTU conference hall in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul. The survey was conducted between 2 September and 21 November last year among 168 workers at call centres nationwide, including both those that had introduced AI systems and those that had not.

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The average number of daily complaints increased from 8.55 before the introduction of AI to 10.08 afterwards, while 63.1% of respondents said they had experienced complaints caused by AI systems. The most common types of AI-related complaints involved irritation (58.5%) and anger (34.6%).

As complaints increased, non-call-related work also rose. (…) The introduction of AI was carried out without workers’ knowledge. Only 1.5% of respondents said there had been any labour–management consultation regarding the introduction of AI.

Customer satisfaction has also remained low. In a satisfaction survey conducted by the Central Research Institute last September — covering 706 men and women aged 18 and over who had used AI systems at call centres — only 18% said they were satisfied, compared with 54.2% who said they were dissatisfied. Complaints about longer consultation times were common (43.8%). More respondents said AI had not helped resolve their issues (40.8%) than those who said it had been helpful (35%).