Barclays to Cut 5,000 Jobs as AI Drives Productivity Plans

Barclays will cut about 5,000 roles, roughly 5 percent of its workforce, as part of a programme to raise productivity through artificial intelligence, the bank said alongside its third-quarter results.

The bank said the reductions form part of broader structural changes. In a company statement Barclays said "the structural reduction in the cost base is being made to create capacity for investment." Executives described the main objective as organisational simplification and improving the productivity of technology change driven by AI.

Barclays said about 60 percent of the job reductions will fall on support functions, explicitly including programmers and developers. The announcement follows the bank's outline of a plan to reallocate resources toward technology and investment rather than expanding headcount in existing support roles.

Financial results and market reaction

The bank reported a 12 percent increase in pre-tax profit for the third quarter, to 2.3 billion pounds, which the company said was in line with expectations; the figure was reported as 3.1 billion US dollars in the statement. Group total income was 7.4 billion pounds, while net interest income remained steady at 3.91 billion pounds.

Shares in Barclays fell by almost 1 percent within an hour of trading in London after the announcement.