Barclays announced 5,000 job cuts affecting 5% of its 93,000 global workforce, with bank executives attributing the reductions to productivity gains from artificial intelligence. The cuts follow 1,000 redundancies the bank had already made since the start of the year, according to Barclays leadership.
The redundancies come as Barclays reported higher quarterly profits. The bank's executives framed the job losses as part of broader cost-saving initiatives enabled by AI deployment.
The Guardian reported the announcement without naming specific roles, divisions or timelines for the layoffs. No details were provided about which geographies or business units would be most affected, or whether the reductions would be concentrated in particular functions like middle-office operations or customer service roles where AI automation is often deployed.
Barclays joins other major financial institutions in citing technology-driven productivity improvements to justify headcount reductions. The bank has not disclosed what specific AI tools are driving the workforce adjustments or what measurable productivity gains have been achieved.