Barclays May Redeploy Staff to Ease Impact of 5,000 Job Cuts
The bank has also committed to 2,800 places in early-career programmes for graduates, apprentices and interns in 2027.
Topics
News
- Karnataka Seeks Deeper European Tech Ties Ahead of Bengaluru Tech Summit
- Musk Says SpaceX Closed $40 Billion GPU Deal as AI Cloud Risks Mount
- Barclays May Redeploy Staff to Ease Impact of 5,000 Job Cuts
- RBI Opens Data Centre and Cybersecurity Institute in Bhubaneswar
- Japanese Firms Offer Customer Payouts After Cyberattacks
- OpenAI Resumes Frontier AI Training After Security Lapse
British bank Barclays will prioritize existing employees for vacancies as it cuts around 5,000 jobs, or 5% of its global workforce, by the end of 2026, Bloomberg reported, citing an internal town hall last week.
During the town hall on Thursday, October 22, CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan said some employees affected by the cuts could apply for other roles, with the bank supporting internal transfers and reskilling.
In a staff memo, Barclays’ executive committee committed around £150 million to skills development by 2030 and 2,800 places in graduate, apprenticeship and internship programs in 2027.
Barclays has already eliminated about 1,000 positions, with another 4,000 expected to go by December. Around 60% of the cuts will affect support functions, including software development.
The restructuring follows years of investment in technology and automation, including artificial intelligence (AI), to reduce costs. Barclays expects efficiency measures to generate more than £1.1 billion in savings in 2027.
Venkatakrishnan has described AI as the “icing on the cake” rather than the main driver of those gains.
Meanwhile, Barclays has appointed Anita Tanna as its first chief AI officer to accelerate AI adoption across the group.
Tanna, who previously served for nearly three years as group chief of staff to the CEO, took up the role last week.
In a LinkedIn post, Tanna said, “I’ll be focused on accelerating adoption across the group and focusing on where we can unlock the greatest value, while ensuring we continue to use AI thoughtfully and responsibly.”
