Manulife cutting 700 jobs as it aims to go digital in customer service operations The Star

Manulife plans to focus personal client services on the 20 per cent of services dealing with major life events such as a death in the family, while automating the 80 per cent of client interactions that cover submitting claims, asking questions and other routine tasks. The shift is needed as customer expectations have changed dramatically in recent years and the financial services industry needs to catch up, Doughty said. "Client expectations have changed so dramatically, and they no longer compare us to other financial services institutions, they compare us to the best service that they're getting from the best companies across any industry." Manulife said that along with cuts to customer service jobs, the company will look to recruit and train digital talent to adapt to new technologies. The company is already using artificial intelligence in its life insurance operations to analyze millions of data points with algorithms to speed up the underwriting process, Doughty said.