{
  "id": 16079656,
  "title": "Barclays layoffs today: Bank slashes 5% of workforce, attributing 5,000 job cuts to AI",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/22/barclays-layoffs-today-bank-slashes-5-of-workforce-attributing-5-000",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-22T17:15:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91628263/barclays-layoffs-today-bank-slashes-5-of-workforce-attributing-5000-job-cuts-to-ai"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Barclays has announced it will be cutting 5,000 jobs, or 5% of its workforce, attributing the majority of the cuts to the increasing efficiency brought about by artificial intelligence. Out of the 5,000 positions, 1,000 have already been eliminated, with the remaining 4,000 expected to be cut by the end of this year. The majority of the affected roles are in developer and support positions.\n\nAccording to Fast Company, AI Industry Exposure index revealed that workers in finance and insurance sectors are among the most vulnerable to potential AI disruption, including job loss. Barclays aims to adapt for the future, building the workforce and skills necessary to deliver its strategy and meet the evolving needs of its customers and clients. As part of this strategy, the bank plans to invest £150m in colleagues' future skills by 2030, with 40,000 colleagues already accessing AI learning resources available to all.\n\nThe majority of the layoffs will impact Barclays' U.K. retail banking operation, which is heavily staffed in India, where a significant number of positions are expected to be eliminated. Barclays CEO, who reported third-quarter earnings on Thursday, stated that pre-tax profits for the three months ending September 30 were £2.3 billion, a 12% increase from the same period last year. However, this figure fell short of analysts' expectations of £2.42 billion.\n\nBarclays is not the only financial institution to announce layoffs this year in the name of AI efficiency. Citigroup is set to eliminate up to 20,000 jobs, or 10% of its workforce; HSBC reportedly cleared out 10% of its highly-paid senior bankers; and Standard Chartered is cutting 7,000 jobs, or 15% of corporate function roles, by 2030.",
  "summary": "The layoffs just keep coming: Barclays announced it is slashing 5,000 jobs, or about 5% of its workforce. It’s attributing the cuts to artificial intelligence , which the bank says has made its operations more efficient. Of the 5,000 job cuts, 1,000 of the positions have already been eliminated, with another 4,000 layoffs scheduled by the end of this year . Many of those jobs are in developer and…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}