WSJ: Barclays will cut about 5,000 jobs this year, roughly 5% of staff, citing AI efficiency gains.

About 1,000 of those roles went in the first half of 2026, and the rest go before year end.

Around 60% of the cuts fall on support functions, “including fewer developers as AI makes our people more productive,” said Chief Executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan.

All these while 3rd-quarter pretax profit rose 12% to £2.3B.
Among rivals, HSBC is reportedly weighing up to 20,000 role cuts over the coming years, while Standard Chartered plans to shrink corporate function roles by more than 15% by 2030.

Venkatakrishnan calls AI the icing rather than the cake, because its savings depend on infrastructure built beforehand.