Standard Chartered Plans to Cut 7,800 Jobs by 2030 While Increasing AI Use

Standard Chartered announced Tuesday that it will cut around 7,800 jobs as it increases the use of artificial intelligence in its operations. The London-based bank said it will reduce more than 15 percent of back-office roles by 2030. The changes form part of a strategy to improve profitability at the lender, which has major operations across Asia.

The bank said it expects the plan to raise its return on tangible equity above 15 percent by 2028, a three-percentage-point increase from 2025. It also aims to lower its cost-to-income ratio and increase income per employee by about 20 percent by 2028.

Standard Chartered employs around 82,000 people, with most in back-office positions.

Winters, the bank's chief executive, sent a memo to employees after media coverage of an investor event in Hong Kong. The memo stated that remarks about automation and workforce changes had been taken out of context. Winters wrote that reductions in roles reflect changes in the work rather than the value of employees.

The announcement drew criticism from shareholders, employees, and on social media. Former Singaporean president Halimah Yacob posted on Facebook that describing workers as lower-value human capital was disturbing. Winters had said the moves were not cost cutting but replacing lower-value human capital with financial and investment capital.

The bank is the latest firm to reduce staff numbers while adopting new technologies. Standard Chartered said the strategy is intended to drive productivity improvements across the organization.