Barclays plans 5,000 job cuts amid AI-driven technology changes

Support functions, including developers, account for about 60% of reductions

Barclays is looking to cut 5,000 jobs, about 5% of its workforce, as the U.K. bank and financial services company restructures around AI-driven technology changes. The company said approximately 60% of the cuts will come from support functions, including developers, and disclosed the plan in a quarterly financial report.

In the report, Barclays said it was seeking “organisational simplification and technology change efficiency driven by AI.” The statement placed the job reductions alongside organizational simplification and technology change, with the company naming AI as a driver of efficiency.

The Associated Press review placed Barclays’ disclosure within a broader change in how major companies allocate resources. The cost of building the infrastructure needed to satisfy booming demand for artificial intelligence is changing corporate spending, the review said, as companies direct more capital toward AI capabilities.

The employment effect can take more than one form. The review said the change can mean an end to some jobs once done by humans. In many cases, though, companies are repurposing money once spent on workers so that more capital can be devoted to boosting AI capabilities.

The roundup focused on companies that announced layoffs or hiring reductions this year tied in some way to massive AI spending. It covered both existing positions and future hiring.

The source did not claim that AI was the sole cause of every workforce change. Its wording kept the link qualified as “tied in some way,” allowing for different relationships between AI spending and job reductions across the companies reviewed.

How much money is being spent on AI has become a hot topic as fears of a bubble in the sector grow, the review said. It also said the potential impact on workers in some sectors is clear. Barclays’ case provides a quantified example: 5,000 planned jobs, about 5% of its workforce and approximately 60% of the reductions in support functions.

For Barclays employees, the most concrete part of the disclosure is where the cuts are expected to land: support functions, including developers. The development adds a measured workforce consequence to the debate over AI infrastructure spending and the possibility of an investment bubble.