{"id":127427,"date":"2026-10-22T11:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T10:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=127427"},"modified":"2026-10-22T11:34:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T10:34:01","slug":"barclays-to-slash-5000-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/barclays-to-slash-5000-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Takes Over: Barclays To Slash 5,000 Jobs And Save Billions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Barclays plans to cut <strong>5,000 jobs in 2026<\/strong>, with artificial intelligence expected to replace part of the work currently carried out by support staff. The bank has already removed around <strong>1,000 positions<\/strong> during the first half of the year and expects another 4,000 roles to go during the second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Barclays Has Already Cut 1,000 Roles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The first wave of job reductions affected around <strong>1,000 support positions<\/strong>, including a number of developer roles. Barclays expects the total number of cuts to reach around <strong>5,000<\/strong> by the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reductions form part of a wider effort to change how the bank operates as it makes greater use of technology and artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Restructuring Costs Could Reach \u00a3600 Million<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The job cuts will push Barclays&#8217; restructuring costs to around <strong>\u00a3600 million this year<\/strong>. That is roughly twice the amount the bank had originally planned to spend on its restructuring programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Barclays expects the changes to generate more than <strong>\u00a31.1 billion in savings during 2027<\/strong>. The bank has therefore accepted substantial costs in the short term in pursuit of lower operating expenses in the following year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">5,000 jobs: Barclays is cutting about 5% of its staff, and credits efficiency driven by AI.<br><br>Take Sam on \u00a367,601, median full-time pay in banking. His job paid \u00a327,225 a year in income tax and NI.<br><br>When the job goes, the tax goes with it. Follow the money. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FxMp116ALB\">pic.twitter.com\/FxMp116ALB<\/a><\/p>&mdash; GBTT \u2014 Great British Think Tank (@GreatBritishTT) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GreatBritishTT\/status\/2113197652204794328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 22, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">UK Bank Has Seen The Largest Cost Savings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A significant share of the savings generated so far has come from Barclays&#8217; UK banking operations. Annual cost savings in the UK bank increased from an average of around <strong>\u00a376 million in 2024 and 2025 to \u00a3158 million<\/strong> this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The figures highlight the scale of the restructuring taking place across the bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Barclays Follows Other Banks Cutting Jobs Over AI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Barclays is not the only major lender reducing its workforce as artificial intelligence becomes more widely used. <strong>Standard Chartered<\/strong> has announced plans to cut around <strong>8,000 jobs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Its chief executive, Bill Winters, attracted criticism after describing some positions as \u201clower-value human capital\u201d when discussing the impact of AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afp.com\/de\/node\/3845994\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>HSBC<\/strong><\/a> is also planning to use AI to reduce the number of UK financial advisers, with reports suggesting the workforce could fall by almost <strong>70%<\/strong>. The moves underline the growing debate around how AI could reshape employment across the financial sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bank Tax Debate Adds Pressure On The City<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Barclays announcement comes as the UK banking sector faces the possibility of higher taxes in the upcoming <strong>Budget<\/strong>. The government is considering reversing cuts to the bank surcharge introduced by former chancellor Jeremy Hunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Such a move could raise more than <strong>\u00a32 billion a year<\/strong> for the Treasury. CS Venkatakrishnan, Barclays&#8217; chief executive, said banks already contribute a substantial amount in tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He described taxation as a question of <strong>\u201cproportion and of market signalling\u201d<\/strong>, while acknowledging the difficult position facing the Chancellor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Barclays Reports \u00a32.3 Billion Quarterly Profit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The job reductions were announced alongside Barclays&#8217; latest financial results. The bank reported <strong>\u00a32.3 billion in pre-tax profit for the third quarter<\/strong>, representing a 12% increase compared with the same period last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Its fixed-income trading operation performed less strongly, with profits falling <strong>19% year on year<\/strong>. Stock trading income moved in the opposite direction, rising <strong>47% to \u00a31.01 billion<\/strong>, helped by increased market volatility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bank Plans Changes To Employee Pay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/barclays-confirms-big-changes-for-children\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Barclays<\/a> is also changing how it rewards some employees. The bank plans to move towards <strong>higher bonuses and lower fixed salaries<\/strong> for its bankers, placing more emphasis on performance-based pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The change is expected to increase costs by around <strong>\u00a3130 million in 2027<\/strong>. This comes as Barclays simultaneously seeks large reductions in its overall operating costs through restructuring and greater use of technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">AI Is Changing Employment Across Banking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest Barclays cuts highlight the growing influence of artificial intelligence on the UK&#8217;s financial sector. Banks are investing in technology while reducing some roles traditionally carried out by human employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Barclays, the planned <strong>5,000 job cuts<\/strong> are expected to bring substantial savings from 2027, despite the high restructuring costs being incurred this year. The changes also come at a time when banks are facing scrutiny over taxation, employee costs and the long-term economic effects of AI-driven automation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Barclays is making a major change to its workforce as artificial intelligence reshapes the banking sector. Thousands of employees could be affected by the latest restructuring, while the bank also faces growing pressure over costs, pay and potential tax changes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":127428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127427"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127429,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127427\/revisions\/127429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}