Standard Chartered will cut more than 7,000 jobs around the world by 2030, amidst the larger grouping’s restructuring strategy in relation to artificial intelligence, automation and operational efficiencies. The reshuffle affects more than 15 per cent of the bank’s corporate and support staff, the agency said.
The banking behemoth headquartered in London said the reductions are central to its broader strategy of transforming operations to drive profitability and productivity through tech-enabled workflow to maximise productivity and profit. The bank now employs about 82,000 people across the world.
Why Standard Chartered Is Scaling It All Down
The proposed cuts will hit the back-office position and administrative support the hardest – compliance or compliance functions or operations work, which are the jobs that reports say are most affected in this case. The bank’s increased use of AI tools and automation systems may have implications for cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Kuala Lumpur and Warsaw.
That wasn’t just a cost-cutting move, either, but a way out, as automation, advanced analytics and AI replaced “lower-value human capital,” said CEO Bill Winters. Some workers could also be retrained, he said on the way through the transition. The bank said AI will also help it to be more efficient, provide better customer service, improve its internal operations and assist it in enabling it to stay ahead in a volatile financial environment.
Bank Elevated Profitability Goals
Standard Chartered also raised its projected financial targets for the next five years under the restructuring announcement. The bank aims for a return on tangible equity (ROTE) of more than 15 percentage points by 2028 and around 18 percentage points by 2030. The lender's own broad trend toward wealth management and institutional banking provides the threat.
Simultaneously, they seek to get up to $200 billion in new client capital ahead of schedule and raise their income per employee by about 20%. Robi and colleagues from Bloomberg.
AI Remaking Jobs for Global Banking Businesses
Standard Chartered's move is also part of a broader global explosion of AI and automation-led financial services, as banking businesses everywhere have all been driven to innovate and create new models. Back-office jobs are particularly vulnerable to automation, as repetitive back-office jobs and repetitive processes it makes bank employees perform, according to industry experts.
The announcement would also reignite fears of job insecurity in the financial industry, especially in the large outsourcing and banking centres in India, home to thousands of supporting staff. Even though the cuts are in place, Standard Chartered says the change will support ‘a more sustainable and efficient business model to ensure continued growth in a rapidly changing and competitive global marketplace’.
