Struggling with Emotions Automating Jobs

Hey everyone,

I run a small logistics company alongside my father that I recently began taking a more active role in. Many of the ~50 employees are quite behind on the tech side of things and therefore are lacking serious productivity, lots of pen and paper still. As part of my efforts to streamline things I worked with an automation/ai company that took a look at our processes and helped us implement some new tech, however I’m struggling emotionally with the outcome.

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Unfortunately we no longer need several of our staff anymore, particularly those that handled tasks like our data entry, text customer service, invoicing, and dispatchers. It’s never fun letting anyone go, but I’m worried about some of the implications for our culture and other employees…

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In a perfect world I’d love to keep these 4-5 full-time staff members on the team and train them to do other roles, but frankly after calculating it out and running the numbers we’re better off just reducing staff and taking the significant cost savings for now, and reallocating resources.

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My question: How to toe this delicate line to do right by our staff that we respect and care about, while also keeping our business up to date with modern tech? I am leaning towards generous exit packages and providing support helping them find new jobs, but still don’t quite feel right.