Barclays cutting about 5,000 jobs as it increases its use of AI

Barclays is cutting about 5,000 jobs, around 5% of its global workforce, as it brings more artificial intelligence into its work processes, the BBC reports. The bank said 1,000 posts have already been closed and it expects a further 4,000 to go by the end of this year, mostly in operational and functional roles. About 60% of the cuts will fall within support functions, including among developers.

Chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan said the cuts stem from significant investment in technology to simplify the business. "AI has an important role to play and may have a more important role to play in the future," he said, but called it "the icing on the cake – it's not the cake – because you need to do the infrastructure build to get the benefits of AI."

The bank is nearing the end of a three-year cost-cutting programme focused mainly on its UK retail bank, though the investment bank is also affected. Barclays reported a £2.3bn profit for the three months to September, higher than a year earlier but slightly below forecasts.