Barclays is cutting around 5,000 jobs as part of a technology-led modernisation programme, with the bank saying artificial intelligence will play an increasingly important role in improving efficiency.
Barclays is cutting around 5,000 jobs as it increases its use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, with the banking group expecting the reduction to affect about five per cent of its global workforce.
Around 1,000 positions have already been removed, while a further 4,000 cuts are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The reductions are focused mainly on Barclays’ UK retail banking operation, although some support functions are based in India, where a significant proportion of the cuts are expected to fall.
The bank said the job losses form part of a three-year programme to modernise and simplify its operations.
While not all of the reductions are directly linked to AI, Barclays said the technology would become increasingly important.
Barclays Group chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan said: “AI has an important role to play and may have a more important role to play in the future.
“We will employ the AI at scale. But AI is the icing on the cake, not the cake.”
He stressed that the bank first needed to build the technology infrastructure required to benefit from AI.
About 60 per cent of the job cuts will come from support functions, including developer roles.
Barclays’ announcement adds to growing concerns about the effect of AI on employment as businesses invest in technology capable of carrying out administrative, programming and other routine tasks.
HSBC, Standard Chartered and Danske Bank have also highlighted AI-related job reductions this year.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said Barclays was “reaching for the AI lever”, while Will Howlett, financials analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said the cuts demonstrated how significantly AI and automation could change banking.
He said: “Banks have spent heavily on technology for years, but we are increasingly reaching the point where that investment translates into fewer people being required to run the business.”
The job cuts come as Barclays reported a £2.3 billion profit for the three months to September, up from the same period last year but slightly below analysts’ expectations.
The bank expects its efficiency measures to generate a further £1.1 billion in savings in 2027.
Venkatakrishnan said the bank’s investment in technology was intended to simplify its operations and improve the business, rather than relying on AI alone to reduce costs.
The scale of the cuts nevertheless highlights the growing link between corporate investment in AI and reductions in human staffing, particularly in large organisations where technology can increasingly automate back-office work.
Barclays cutting 5,000 jobs to increase reliance on AI
