Barclays to cut 5K jobs in AI-fueled push to lower costs

Barclays Plc is cutting 5,000 jobs to reduce costs through the use of artificial intelligence, the latest large lender to slash its workforce as the new technology ripples throughout the banking industry. The roles are equal to about 5% of the London-based bank’s total headcount, with about 60% of the reductions coming within support functions, including developers. The tally includes 1,000 positions that the bank trimmed in the first half. It’s part of Barclays’ efforts to keep a lid on costs after it reported disappointingly high expenses earlier this year. The UK lender joins HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc in pivoting to AI and automation, offering some of the clearest signs yet of how the new technology is upending traditional banking work. HSBC is weighing eliminating as many as 20,000 roles over the coming years, while Standard Chartered plans to cut corporate function roles by more than 15% by 2030. Signs that AI is pervading financial institutions are growing, with Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing saying yesterday that the bank is using AI to boost efficiency and controls. “We will employ AI at scale,” Barclays Chief Executive Officer CS Venkatakrishnan said on a call with reporters. “But AI is the icing on the cake, not the cake.” Shares in Barclays were roughly flat as of 11:04 a.m. in London, reversing course after earlier losses. The overhaul means the bank will spend about £600 million this year — roughly double an earlier estimate — to bring down future costs. Investors balked at its expenses in its half-year earnings, despite a fresh cost-cutting program announced in February. Barclays employed about 93,000 people globally at the end of 2025. “The changes that we’re making in the third and fourth quarters of this year are sizable,” Barclays Chief Financial Officer Anna Cross said on a call with analysts. “They relate both to the simplification of the organization and to some of the impacts that we’re starting to see from AI.” The bank stuck to its targets for the coming years, with operating expenses largely as expected in the quarter, and announced a £500 million share buyback. Investment banking Barclays announced job cuts alongside reporting mixed results at the investment bank for the third quarter. Revenue from fixed income and currency trading fell 19% compared with a year earlier to £1.01 billion ($1.4 billion), behind analyst expectations compiled by Bloomberg. That meant the equities traders, who posted a 47% jump in revenue, almost matched that revenue haul with their best performance since at least 2009, the year after Barclays acquired the North American business of Lehman Brothers. The bank said the fixed-income result reflected lower client activity in rates and credit, and “further adversity in September due to the macroeconomic environment.” On the call with reporters, Venkatakrishnan said the performance in FICC was “somewhat disappointing.” Overall the Barclays investment bank slightly missed expectations with total income of £3.13 billion. Barclays’ retail bank couldn’t do enough to overcome that weakness, with the UK retail unit broadly stable and the US consumer arm also roughly flat year on year, missing estimates. “A disappointing performance from Barclays,” said UK banking analyst Ed Firth at Keefe Bruyette & Woods. Peers including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. saw similar trends across fixed income desks, where revenue fell as much as 17% year-on-year as they dealt with the impact of rising interest rates, which can push down the value of existing debt and crimp demand from clients to transact. UK lenders are bracing for a rise in taxes on their earnings as part of the Labour government’s budget next week, which would use the proceeds to fund cost-of-living relief for households. --By William Shaw ( Bloomberg News )

Barclays to cut 5K jobs in AI-fueled push to lower costs

The roles are equal to about 5% of the bank's headcount

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Barclays to cut 5K jobs in AI-fueled push to lower costs

The roles are equal to about 5% of the bank's headcount

DLL offering ‘holistic’ financing for cybersecurity, AI investments

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