Vulse layoffs and AI

Rob Illidge, founder and chief executive of Vulse, quoted by the Mirror (29 October 2026; the story's photographs are credited to the SWNS agency): "There's a lot of pressure on businesses. And staff costs are one of them." ... "The money was better spent elsewhere. AI could do a better job." ... "We were looking at repetitive tasks, so graduate jobs were more likely to go. AI could do a better job." ... "Staffing every role we’ve replaced with AI would cost around £250,000 a year at our former staff’s pay." The Mirror, in its own words: "In 2023, he decided to operate his business with a skeleton crew, relying heavily on AI, which meant over the next three years making more than 64% of his staff redundant. In total, Rob replaced nine employees with artificial intelligence and graduates were more at risk."

Rob Illidge, founder and chief executive of Vulse, a Manchester company that sells LinkedIn employee advocacy software, said in an interview carried by the Mirror, the Daily Star and the Manchester Evening News on 29 October 2026 that since 2023 he has made more than 64% of his staff redundant, nine of a peak of 14 employees, in its marketing, sales and development teams, and replaced them with AI, leaving a team of five. He said AI could do a better job and does two to three times an employee's work, and he also named the pressure of staff costs and said the money was better spent elsewhere, so AI is one of two reasons he gives, beside cost. The redundancies were spread over three years and never announced as a cut, so this is recorded as his statement and nothing is counted. The figures and the savings he describes come only from his own account in this interview, and no outlet checked them.

Roles the sources name:

Marketing, sales and development teams (made redundant, per the Mirror, the Daily Star and the Manchester Evening News, reporting the founder's account)

Share of the workforce:

more than 64% of its staff over 2023 to 2026 (the founder's account: nine of a peak of 14 employees; no filing)