Major Bank Accelerates Mass Layoffs, Cleans Up 'Low-Skilled' Staff

Jakarta – CNBC Indonesia reports that the wave of workforce reductions is beginning to hit the global banking industry. One of the world’s banking giants, Standard Chartered, has announced plans to cut more than 7,000 employees deemed ‘low-skilled’ over the next four years as artificial intelligence is used at scale. The London-based bank says AI technology will be the primary driver of operational efficiency to boost profitability and to confront increasingly intense competition in the financial services sector, Reuters reported on Wednesday, 20 May 2026. Standard Chartered said it would cut around 15% of corporate-function roles by 2030. Reuters calculations indicate this equates to more than 7,000 redundancies out of about 52,000 employees in that division. CEO Bill Winters emphasised that the move is not simply about cost-cutting, but about replacing low-value human capital with the technology and financial capital the bank is investing. “This is not just about reducing costs. In some cases, we are replacing low-value human capital with the financial capital and investment capital we are planting,” Winters said. Globally, Standard Chartered employs almost 82,000 people. Winters said reductions would be achieved through automation and AI, though some staff would be offered retraining or reskilling. “People who want to enhance their skills and continue their careers will be given opportunities to relocate,” he added. The roles most affected are said to be in the bank’s back-office operations hubs, including Chennai, Bengaluru, Kuala Lumpur and Warsaw. Winters noted that AI would be the central enabler of the transformation of the bank’s core banking systems. The efficiency move comes as more global firms cut staff to boost efficiency through AI. Japanese bank Mizuho Financial Group had previously announced plans to cut up to 5,000 jobs over a decade. Separately, global banks are racing to integrate the latest AI models while countering rising cyber threats. Despite the mass layoffs, Standard Chartered remains committed to ambitious growth targets. The bank targets a return on tangible equity (ROTE) above 15% in 2028, rising to around 18% in 2030. The group is also accelerating its net new money target to US$200 billion by 2028, earlier than the previous target of 2029. The business focus will be directed towards higher-margin segments, including wealthy retail customers and institutional clients. However, geopolitical risks continue to shadow the outlook for the global banking industry. Standard Chartered, focused on the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions, acknowledges the Middle East conflict as a principal risk. In the first quarter of this year, the bank set aside cautious provisions of US$190 million related to the Middle East conflict. “We are very resilient,” Winters said when asked about the impact of geopolitical risk and market conditions on the bank’s ability to reach its business targets.