Barclays has revealed plans to eliminate 5,000 positions, accounting for roughly five percent of its total staff, as part of a wider strategy to lower operational expenses and boost efficiency through artificial intelligence technology.
According to Sky News, the UK-based bank has already eliminated about 1,000 positions and plans to complete the remaining cuts by the end of the year.
Most of the job losses are expected in the bank’s home market and will primarily affect operational and functional roles, although employees across its global workforce will also be affected.
Group Chief Executive, CS Venkatakrishnan, said the reductions were part of a broader drive to improve profitability and reflected investments in technology over several years.
He said the cuts were driven by “investments which we’ve made into technology over a number of years and which we continue to make”.
Venkatakrishnan added: “AI has an important role to play and may have a more important role to play in the future.
“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.
“Where the infrastructure is modern, we’ve been applying it here.”
The move reflects a wider trend across the financial services sector, where companies are increasingly adopting AI-powered processes to reduce the need for human involvement in back-office functions, including software development.
In a similar development, the head of Standard Chartered bank said in the spring that there was a need to replace “lower-value human capital” while announcing plans for thousands of job losses.
A Barclays spokesperson said: “We are positioning Barclays for the future, building the workforce and skills needed to deliver our strategy and meet the evolving needs of our customers and clients.
“In doing so we are committed to helping our colleagues develop and build rewarding careers, while meeting the changing needs of customers and clients and ensuring Barclays continues to succeed in the years ahead.”
The announcement came as Barclays reported third-quarter profits of £2.3bn, representing a 12 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.
However, the figure fell short of analysts’ forecasts, partly due to weaker-than-expected performance in its fixed-income trading business.
Barclays shares fell by more than 2.5 per cent following the results.
What You Should Know
Barclays is restructuring its workforce by cutting thousands of jobs and embracing automated, AI-driven processes to streamline back-office operations and boost financial performance.
- Positive Impact: The bank aims to modernize its technological infrastructure, which could lead to faster digital banking services and better long-term operational efficiency for clients.
- Potential Concerns: The layoffs highlight growing job insecurity for banking staff as financial institutions increasingly replace human roles with artificial intelligence and automation.
