Technical customer support (level 2)

ISCO-08 3512

Level 2 technical support advisor, Technical hotline advisor, Remote support technician, Broadband and fibre support expert, Technical support team leader

AI exposure47%

Headcount need, in FTE

Exposure range

Your current headcount

FTE

Need in 203086 FTE-14 FTE (-14%)

Need in 203572 FTE-28 FTE (-28%)

How AI is used on these tasks today

Automation 65%Augmentation 35%

In AI conversations about this job's tasks: the AI does the task itself (automation) or helps the person do it (augmentation).Anthropic Economic Index, April and May 2026. Occupations: Computer User Support Specialists. AEI

1. Exposure 47%Average automation potential of the job's tasks. Range for this family: 28 to 66%.ILO occupations used: Information and Communications Technology User Support Technicians (47%). ILO data

2. Strategic ceiling 100%Your call: how much of this potential do you want to capture? Nobody can set it for you.

3. Adoption speed midpoint 2030

Inherits your company stance, adjustable for this family.

4. Conversion to headcount sensitive 60%Default 60%: Contact volume falls as self-diagnosis and agents solve simple faults, so most of the time saved reduces staffing rather than being reinvested.

Target AI skills

level 1 to 4

Foundation

Use AI assistants every day

Frame and phrase a request

Check and challenge AI outputs

Protect data and respect the rules

Applied

Rethink one's process with AI

Analyse data with AI

Produce content with AI

Delegate to and supervise AI agents

Job skills

Growing in value

Diagnosing faults remote tests cannot explain
Coordinating with field and network teams
Explaining technical issues to frustrated customers
Feeding the knowledge base from new cases

Losing value

Running standard line and router tests
Searching the knowledge base during calls
Scripted reboot and reconfiguration procedures
Writing ticket summaries

How the job will change

Much of level 2 support follows decision trees: run a line test, check the router, reset a configuration, book a technician visit. Remote diagnosis tools and conversational agents now do this directly with the customer, through the app or the voice server. When a case does reach an advisor, the assistant has already summarised the history, run the tests and proposed a cause.

Level 2 therefore receives fewer but harder cases: intermittent faults, Wi-Fi problems in large homes, faults at the boundary between network and customer equipment, customers on their third call. A good advisor tomorrow reasons beyond the script, works closely with field and network teams, and turns each unusual case into knowledge the agents can reuse.

2026-2027: Assistants summarise tickets and suggest diagnoses; self-care apps resolve simple faults.
2028-2030: Agents handle most level 1 and part of level 2 cases.
2031+: A smaller expert level 2, focused on complex faults and knowledge.

Watch out

Level 1 shrinks first, and that is where level 2 advisors used to learn the job. Without a new learning path, level 2 will lack candidates who know both the customer and the network. See the seniority outlook below.

What if you hired fewer juniors?

Your 2036 seniors are the juniors you hire today.

Seniors available in 2036-6%1 FTE short

Gap above 5% from2029

Your seniority mix today

Juniors (0 to 1 yrs in the profession)50%Seniors (4+ yrs)15%

Mid-level (1 to 4 yrs in the profession, the remainder)35%

Cut in junior hiring -40%

For

Advanced settings

Juniors promoted each year30%Juniors leaving each year30%Senior gap filled by external hiring0%If every company makes the same bet, senior profiles will be scarce and expensive.

Seniority mix, % of today's headcount

Juniors50%Mid-level34%Seniors14%

2026 2036

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How the numbers are built

Every headcount figure combines four assumptions. Three come pre-filled from public research and job family defaults. The strategic ceiling is yours to set.

Public researchExposureAverage automation potential of the job's tasks, from the ILO's 2025 task-level scores.

Your decisionStrategic ceilingHow much of that potential you choose to capture. Your decision, not ours.

Your companyAdoption speedHow fast your company moves, set once for the whole company.

Job family defaultConversion to headcountHow much of the productivity gain becomes fewer people rather than more output.

Headcount effect

Seniority outlook

A flow model with three levels of experience in the profession. Promotion and exit rates are set so that today's mix stays stable when hiring does not change: any gap you see comes from the junior hiring cut alone.