Barclays expects to cut about 5,000 full-time jobs, around 5% of its workforce, and says AI is part of the reason. Group finance director Anna Cross told analysts on the bank’s third-quarter results call on 22 October that around 60% of the reductions are in support functions, “including fewer developers as AI makes our people more productive”. She also pointed to customer-facing technology that has cut call centre volumes by 10% over the past year. Barclays reported a 12% rise in quarterly pre-tax profit to £2.3bn.
Chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan was careful about how much credit to give AI. The savings come mainly from standardising data, modernising infrastructure and simplifying processes, he said, adding: “AI is the icing on the cake, not the cake”.
Why it matters: banks have talked for years about AI making staff more productive, but few have tied a specific job number to it. A Goldman Sachs analyst on the call called it “one of the clearest call-outs we’ve had in the sector” on AI-enabled savings. That software developers are named among the roles affected is a notable signal for technology jobs inside banks.