by Jack McGeever
Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan described artificial intelligence as the “icing on the cake” Thursday as the British banking giant announced plans to eliminate roughly 5,000 jobs by year’s end.
The reductions represent approximately 5% of Barclays’ global workforce, with 1,000 positions already eliminated and another 4,000 expected to disappear before the end of 2026. The announcement accompanied third-quarter financial results showing the bank’s pretax profits climbed 12% to approximately $3.1 billion, even as executives outlined further cost reductions tied to technological modernization.
“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,” Venkatakrishnan said, describing the technology’s role in the bank’s restructuring.
The executive emphasized that AI was not solely responsible for the workforce reductions, attributing much of the company’s efficiency gains to years of investments in modernizing its systems and simplifying business operations.
Chief Financial Officer Anna Cross told reporters the actions are intended to deliver more than £1.1 billion in gross efficiency savings in 2027. “These actions involve an expected reduction of circa 5,000 full-time employees. Around 60% of the group actions relate to support functions, including fewer developers, as AI makes our people more productive,” she said.
The bank has already reportedly booked £201 million in structural cost actions in the third quarter and plans roughly £300 million more in the fourth, bringing full-year restructuring costs to around £600 million—roughly double earlier expectations—while generating capacity for further technology investment.
Nevertheless, roughly 60% of the job cuts will affect support functions, including software developers, as AI allows remaining employees to complete more work, according to Reuters.
Barclays expects its cost-cutting measures to produce approximately $1.5 billion in additional savings during 2027. The bank also announced a £500 million share buyback program, bringing its year-to-date shareholder distributions to £2.8 billion.
The layoffs come as major corporations increasingly turn to automation to reduce labor expenses, raising concerns about the future of jobs traditionally performed by human employees.
The banking industry’s adoption of AI has prompted warnings from labor representatives who argue companies should prioritize retraining employees rather than eliminating their positions.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite union, accused Barclays of “using AI as an excuse to discard its loyal and long-suffering workforce,” according to the BBC.
Shares in Barclays traded lower in London following the announcement, with the stock down as much as about 2% at points during the session, as investors weighed the cost-saving plans against mixed third-quarter trading results, including weaker fixed-income performance that missed some forecasts.
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Jack McGeever is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
