Last Updated on November 5, 2026 by TMB
British banking giant Barclays is cutting about 5,000 jobs before the end of this year as it plans to reduce costs and improve efficiency. The job cuts represent about 5% of the company’s total workforce and are part of Barclays’ push to apply artificial intelligence more deeply.
1,000 Jobs Already Cut
Barclays revealed this along with its third-quarter earnings statement released on Thursday. According to reports, the bank has already cut 1,000 positions and hopes to cut about 4,000 more by year’s end. These moves may be more prevalent in the UK retail bank, but will also spread to back-office functions for the UK, carried out in India. These functions are expected to be heavily impacted by the job cuts.
While not all the dismissals are related to AI, the technology is a significant part of the restructuring the bank is currently undertaking. Barclays is increasing its AI spending and says tools can replace many basic tasks carried out by some of its staff. These tasks include programming and administrative work.
Noted in a Q326 Results announcement of September is a plan to reduce the company’s cost base “through expected technology-enabled FTE reductions,” referring to its full-time employees. Barclays says it is doing this to create more capacity for increased business investment. In the third quarter, the banking giant spent £201m on structural cost actions (SCAs) as it looks to reduce future running costs, a significant reduction from the £93m it spent on SCAs. The plan is to spend about £300m on SCAs in Q4 of 2026. In general, Barclays Group total costs are expected to fall to around £18.4bn in FY27, from £18.5bn in FY26.
The bank’s third-quarter figures reveal that net profit grew 13% following rising income in its equities division. Profit after tax also grew from £1.46 billion to £1.65 billion.
Staff Union Resists Tighter Hybrid Rules
In September, thousands of Barclays staff began asking for money to return to work after management increased the number of office days required. Several staff who were required to resume in the office twice a week were asked to show up at least thrice. Unite the Union, a trade union representing bank staff in the UK, asked the bank to reverse the decision. In addition, the union asked Barclays for exemptions and included a travel and childcare payment in its demands. Barclays argued that several employees already show up to work for at least three days each week, stating that in-office work helped with collaboration. However, the bank eventually suspended the decision and extended the implementation period to allow staff to get the right support.
