Barclays said it’s cutting 5,000 jobs, or around 5% of its full-time workforce, as it increases its reliance on AI.
The British bank said in its third-quarter earnings statement that it is “structurally reducing” its costs through “technology-enabled” head count reductions.
Barclays laid out the numbers in its accompanying earnings presentation, linking the cuts specifically to “organisational simplification and technology change efficiency driven by AI.”
Around 60% of the cuts will impact support functions, including developers, according to the presentation. Coding has become one of the main business use cases for AI across industries, causing some companies to cut back on developers.
Anna Cross, Barclays’ group finance director, said the layoffs come as “AI makes our people more productive.”
“Nowhere in the bank is this more relevant than in Barclays UK, where we have taken more structural cost actions than planned in ’26,” she said on the earnings call.
Wall Street is grappling with how AI will impact head count for both back- and front-office roles, as much of junior bankers’ technical, repetitive workload can be automated. Some executives have said they’re looking for young people with sharp judgment and communication skills rather than just analytical brainpower, as AI places an even greater premium on client interactions.
Goldman Sachs said in a memo last year that it plans to “restrain head count growth,” and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has said he will likely hire fewer bankers and more “AI people.”
Barclays joins a growing list of companies that have announced AI-related layoffs this year, including Snap and Coinbase. Business Insider analyzed 15 layoff memos earlier this year and found that “AI” was the most commonly used term.
AI hasn’t always led to companies cutting back. Some companies have increased hiring, while others have cut some roles and hired more for others.
