As AI comes for more jobs, fresh questions emerge about the possible mortgage and housing market impacts ahead
Standard Chartered has announced plans to cut more than 15% of its back-office roles by 2030, a reduction that works out to around 7,800 positions, as the UK-headquartered bank accelerates its use of artificial intelligence and automation.
The announcement coincided with remarks by chief executive Bill Winters at an investor day in Hong Kong, where he outlined a fresh strategy targeting improvements in profitability and operational efficiency.
The bank employs around 82,000 people globally, with more than 52,000 in back-office functions. The cuts will be phased in over the next four years, with back-office operations in Chennai, Bengaluru, Kuala Lumpur and Warsaw understood to be primarily affected.
The bank has not confirmed which locations will bear the largest share of reductions, though some affected workers are likely to be moved into other roles within the business.
In a statement, Standard Chartered said: "We are scaling practical uses of automation, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to streamline processes, improve decision-making and enhance both client service and internal efficiency."
Winters denied the shift was simply an effort to slash expenses. "It's not cost-cutting. It's replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital we're putting in," he told investors. "Of course we're using AI along the way and AI will be a huge facilitator and enabler of that."
A wider pattern of AI-driven cuts
Standard Chartered is not alone. DBS, Singapore's largest bank, said in February it expected to cut around 4,000 contract and temporary roles over the next three years. Meta is preparing to shed roughly 8,000 roles – around 10% of its workforce – while Amazon announced more than 16,000 job cuts in January.
Morgan Stanley research has estimated that AI could place more than 200,000 banking jobs across Europe at risk by 2030, representing roughly 10% of roles in the sector.
Canadian banking giants including Scotiabank, TD and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) have confirmed workforce reductions in recent months, although none have been explicitly attributed to a pivot towards AI solutions.
In the US, mortgage professionals have flagged the potential knock-on effect for the housing market of widespread white-collar layoffs, a debate that’s likely to intensify with the latest announcement of huge workforce cuts by a major financial institution.
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