Barclays plans 5,000 job cuts by year-end

Barclays plans to cut about 5,000 jobs, or roughly 5% of its workforce, by the end of 2026 as it combines artificial intelligence, technology upgrades and organizational changes in a broader effort to reduce costs and fund investment. The bank said about 1,000 positions had already been eliminated, leaving roughly 4,000 reductions to complete by year-end. The plan was outlined alongside Barclays’ third-quarter results on October 22. About 60% of related actions involve support functions, the bank said, including fewer developer roles. Finance Director Anna Cross linked changes to developer roles partly to productivity gains from AI. The 60% figure refers to related actions, not to a stated share of the total workforce reductions. Chief Executive C. S. Venkatakrishnan described AI as one element of a wider program involving technology investment and process changes. The bank is also working to standardize data, upgrade infrastructure and simplify operations. Venkatakrishnan said AI was “the icing on the cake, not the cake,” emphasizing that the restructuring extends beyond the technology. Barclays has not provided a country-by-country breakdown of the planned reductions. Some...