The British bank Barclays announced on Thursday (22) a plan to eliminate about 5,000 jobs by the end of 2026, including software development roles. The decision comes after the institution recorded growth of 12% in pre-tax profit in the third quarter, which reached £2.3 billion.
The cuts represent approximately 5% of employees of the group. According to Chief Financial Officer Anna Cross, about 1,000 positions have already been eliminated, while the other 4,000 are expected to disappear by December.
Approximately 60% of the reductions will hit support roles, including software development teams. Cross said that advances in artificial intelligence are increasing employee productivity, allowing the bank to operate with smaller teams.
The restructuring is part of an efficiency program expected to generate more than £1.1 billion in gross savings in 2027. The plan combines automation, technological modernization and changes in internal organization.
AI contributes to the cuts, but is not the only factor responsible
Barclays Chief Executive C. S. Venkatakrishnan stressed that artificial intelligence represents only part of the transformation. He compared the technology to icing on a cake, explaining that its benefits depend on prior investments in infrastructure, data standardization and process simplification.
The bank is already showing operational results from these changes. According to Cross, technological improvements reduced the volume of calls to customer service centers by 10% in the last year. Changes to the operating model also reduced the number of employees per branch by approximately 10%.
The institution recorded £201 million in expenses related to structural cost-reduction measures in the third quarter and expects approximately another £300 million in the fourth quarter.
Despite profit growth, the results fell short of analysts' expectations, mainly due to weaker performance in fixed-income securities operations. In parallel, Barclays announced a new share buyback program of up to £500 million.
The institution did not provide a specific breakdown of how many developers will be affected or how many of the 5,000 positions will be eliminated directly as a result of AI. Nevertheless, the explicit association between greater technological productivity and reduced teams places development professionals among the groups affected by the restructuring.
