Barclays is cutting about 5,000 jobs as it pushes a wider cost-saving drive built around artificial intelligence. The bank said the reductions will fall across the group, with support roles taking the biggest hit, and that the move is meant to strip out costs rather than add another layer of work for remaining staff.
5,000 jobs is about 5% of Barclays’ 93,000 global staff, and 60% of the cuts affect support functions. Anna Cross said the bank was planning to save more than £1.1bn in 2027, giving the reduction a clear financial target rather than a vague efficiency pledge.
Anna Cross puts a £1.1bn target on cuts
More than £1.1bn in 2027 is the number management attached to the plan, and that matters because it shows the cuts are part of a broader balance-sheet exercise, not a one-off trim. Cross told reporters: “These actions involve an expected reduction of circa 5000 full time employees, around 60% of the group actions relate to support functions, including theory developers. AI makes our people more productive.”
60% of the reductions landing in support work suggests the first round of savings is aimed at tasks that can be standardized, automated, or reorganized around technology. For employees in those functions, the practical reading is simple: the bank is shrinking layers that sit between systems and front-line revenue generation, and it is doing so with a 2027 savings target already in hand.
CS Venkatakrishnan on AI and technology
CS Venkatakrishnan said the bank had been making deep investments in technology and simplifying its processes, then drew a line between those changes and the job cuts. Asked how many of the reductions would be directly linked to AI, he said: “That is driving the bulk of the efficiency gains that you’ve seen so far. AI has an important role to play and may have a more important role to play in the future.”
He added: “We have been focusing on the infrastructure build, and where the infrastructure is modern, we’ve been applying AI.” That leaves the cuts tied to a practical rollout pattern: modern systems first, automation second, headcount reduction third. The result is that AI is being used less as a standalone headline than as the tool management says can make the bank leaner while it rebuilds its internal plumbing.
Standard Chartered sets a comparison
Standard Chartered has also announced plans to cut more than 7,000 jobs over the next four years and to slash around 15% of its back-office roles by 2030. Barclays is following the same broad route, but with a different scale and a clearer near-term savings target, which gives staff and investors a cleaner measure of how aggressively the bank expects the technology push to pay off.
For the 5,000 employees affected, the immediate takeaway is that the bank has already drawn a line between support work and the next phase of efficiency gains. Which specific jobs or business areas beyond support roles will be cut is not fully explained, and that is the part of the plan employees will be reading most closely.
See also: Barclays staff backlash over return-to-office rules, Barclays Investment Bank leadership changes.
