New data from Pave across 386,500 new hires tells a striking story: the percentage of new hires going into Customer Support has dropped from 8.30% in Q4 ’23 to just 2.88% in Q3 ’25.
That’s a 65% decline in two years. And the curve is accelerating — almost half the drop happened in the last three quarters alone.
We are doing more support than ever. In fact, AI Agents have dramatically expanded where and how we do support. It’s just that we don’t need nearly as many humans anymore. And while support is the first area where we can see that massive change, it won’t be the last.
It’s Not That Support Doesn’t Matter. It’s That AI Actually Works Here. We Just Don’t Need That Many Humans Anymore.
Customer support was always going to be the first major function transformed by AI. Not because it’s simple — good support is incredibly hard — but because it’s the one area where AI can handle 40-60% of volume today without degrading the customer experience.
At SaaStr, we’ve seen this firsthand. We went from 20+ employees to 3 humans + AI agents, and our AI agents now handle a massive percentage of inbound support and community questions. Revenue went from -19% to +47% year-over-year during that same transition.
But here’s the nuance most people miss: the total spend on customer support isn’t necessarily going down. In fact, it might be going up. What’s happening is the mix is shifting dramatically.
“Traditional” Support Software Is No Longer Growing. At All.
Intercom is all-in on Fin now. Zendesk’s non-AI business has dried up, even as it has added hundreds of millions in ARR in AI support. In eCommerce, Gorgias’ AI Agent business at ~$100m ARR is growing 100%. But the traditional human support business is growing at a small fraction of that rate.
What the Best B2B Companies Are Actually Doing
The companies I talk to scaling from $10M to $100M+ ARR aren’t eliminating support. They’re restructuring it:
Fewer generalist support reps, more specialized humans. The AI handles password resets, basic how-to questions, and standard troubleshooting. The humans that remain are higher-paid, more technical, and focused on complex escalations and strategic accounts. Think $90K-$120K roles replacing $50K-$65K roles.
Support is merging with Customer Success (and Other Functions). When AI deflects 50%+ of tickets, the remaining human work looks a lot more like customer success — proactive outreach, onboarding, expansion conversations. The functional line between “support” and “CS” is blurring fast.
AI is the Tier 1 now. At companies like Klarna, Intercom’s own customers, and dozens of SaaStr community members, AI is officially Tier 1 support. Humans are Tier 2+. That’s a structural shift in how you hire, not a temporary efficiency play.
The Bigger Picture
This Pave data is one of the clearest proof points yet that AI isn’t a future promise in B2B — it’s restructuring headcount plans right now. Customer support is the leading indicator. Engineering, sales development, and parts of marketing will follow similar curves over the next 2-3 years.
The 65% decline in support hiring isn’t a sign that companies care less about their customers. It’s a sign that the best companies have figured out how to serve them differently.
And if you’re not in that group yet, the window to catch up is getting smaller every quarter.
