Barclays slash 5,000 jobs as AI reshapes bank operations
Plans to cut about 5,000 jobs, or 5% of its global workforce, as technology and AI help streamline operations. The bank says 1,000 posts have already closed…
Barclays plans to cut about 5,000 jobs as it uses artificial intelligence and other technology to streamline its operations, a move affecting around 5% of its global workforce. The bank said 1,000 posts have already closed and expects another 4,000 to go by the end of this year.
Most cuts will fall in operational and support functions, including developer roles. The reductions put a human cost on the efficiency gains Barclays says it is pursuing through technology.
Support roles bear most of the cuts
Barclays said around 60% of the job reductions would come from support functions. Its earnings presentation described the outcome as “organisational simplification and technology change efficiency driven by AI.”
The bank’s group chief executive, CS Venkatakrishnan, linked the reductions to investment in technology intended to simplify and improve the business. He said: “That is driving the bulk of the efficiency gains that you've seen so far.”
He also cautioned against treating AI as the sole source of those gains. “AI has an important role to play and may have a more important role to play in the future,” Venkatakrishnan said. “I've often said that it is the icing on the cake – it's not the cake – because you need to do the infrastructure build to get the benefits of AI.”
For employees, the distinction does not soften the immediate consequence: thousands of roles are being removed as the bank changes how work is organised. Barclays said the cuts mainly affect operational and functional positions, while developers are also among those affected.
Technology push accompanies cost-cutting programme
The reductions come as Barclays reaches the end of a three-year cost-cutting programme focused primarily on its UK retail banking arm. The investment banking division is affected too, according to the BBC’s report.
The scale of the cuts also gives a concrete example of how a major bank is connecting technology investment with staffing changes. Economists have been watching company results for signs that investment in new technology, particularly AI, is improving day-to-day efficiency and reducing employment, the BBC reported.
Barclays said in its third-quarter earnings statement that it was “structurally reducing the cost base to generate capacity for investment.” The bank reported pretax profit of £2.3 billion for the latest three months, higher than a year earlier but slightly below forecasts, according to the BBC.
CNBC reported that pretax profit rose 12% year on year to £2.3 billion, matching forecasts compiled by LSEG. Group income was £7.4 billion, below analysts’ estimate of £7.61 billion. The figures place the job announcement alongside a quarter in which profit increased, while income missed expectations.
The next workforce reduction is expected to bring the total to around 5,000, with 4,000 more posts due to close by the end of this year, Barclays said, according to the BBC.
Source: cnbc.com
