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Barclays to Cut About 5,000 Jobs as Executives Cite AI Productivity Gains, Guardian Reports

Bot Mutiny | October 22, 2026

Barclays is cutting about 5,000 jobs as part of wider cost-saving plans that its bosses say are being driven by advances in AI, the Guardian reported on Thursday, October 22, 2026. The cuts equal about 5% of the bank's 93,000 global staff, and executives confirmed they had already cut 1,000 workers since the start of the year. The announcement came alongside a 12% rise in quarterly pre-tax profit.

What Barclays said

Chief financial officer Anna Cross told reporters on Thursday that the job cuts are part of plans to save more than £1.1bn in 2027. "These actions involve an expected reduction of circa 5,000 full-time employees. Around 60% of the group actions relate to support functions, including fewer developers, as AI makes our people more productive," the Guardian quoted her as saying.

Asked how many of the total cuts would be directly linked to advances in AI, chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan said the bank had been making "deep investments" in technology and simplifying its processes. "That is driving the bulk of the efficiency gains that you've seen so far. AI has an important role to play and may have a more important role to play in the future," he said, according to the Guardian. He described AI as the "icing on the cake" to modernising the bank's technology. The Guardian's report does not include a figure for how many of the 5,000 roles are attributed to AI.

The union response

Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite union, said Barclays workers "deserve better." She added: "The company is using AI as an excuse to discard its loyal and long-suffering workforce. Employers should be focused on upgrading employees' skills so that they remain employed as new technology changes the workplace. Instead, Barclays is guilty of taking a short-term, kneejerk approach."

Profits and payouts

Barclays reported £2.3bn in pre-tax profit for the July to September quarter, up 12% from £2.1bn in the same period last year, the Guardian reported. The bank also announced plans to hand a further £500m to investors, bringing the total returned to shareholders since January, through buybacks and dividends, to £2.8bn. Net interest income at its UK retail banking operations rose 6% to £2bn.

The Guardian said that figure has become a flashpoint for campaigners pushing for a bank tax. The Trades Union Congress has been campaigning for an increase, and its general secretary, Paul Nowak, said lenders needed to contribute more at a time when people were struggling with household bills. "Barclays' bumper profits aren't an anomaly. All the big banks are doing exceptionally well," Nowak said, adding that Britain's big four banks have made £200bn in profit since 2021 and that they can, and should, pay more tax. The Guardian said the results will probably be used to justify an expected increase in bank taxes in the October 28 budget.

Asked whether Barclays might shift assets or investment from the UK to the US if levies rise, Venkatakrishnan said the bank would be able to absorb them. "It's bearable," he said, calling the issue "a question of proportion and it's a question of market signalling."

A wider pattern in banking

The Guardian noted that another UK-headquartered bank, Standard Chartered, announced plans months ago to cut more than 7,000 jobs over the next four years as it ramps up its use of AI. That plan would remove about 15% of its back-office roles by 2030.

What is not established

The Guardian's account of the job cuts rests on statements by Barclays executives. It does not say how many of the 5,000 positions will be lost specifically because of AI, which functions or locations will be affected beyond the "around 60% of the group actions" that Cross said relate to support functions, or how many of the cuts will be compulsory. Cross's remark that AI makes staff "more productive" and Venkatakrishnan's remark that technology investment drives "the bulk of the efficiency gains" are the bank's own characterizations, and the union disputes the framing.