Standard Chartered to cut thousands of roles as AI use increases

Banking giant Standard Chartered has become the latest major company to announce job cuts as it increases its adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).

The firm, which has its headquarters in the UK, said it will cut more than 15%, or around 7,800, of its back-office roles by 2030.

The BBC understands that Standard Chartered aims to move some of the affected workers to other roles in the business.

Companies around the world have announced major job cuts in recent months as they increasingly use AI tools for tasks currently carried out by humans.

The company did not give details of where the roles would be cut. It has major back-office operations in India, China, Malaysia and Poland.

"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," said in a statement.

The move is part of chief executive Bill Winters' latest global strategy for the Asia and Africa-focused bank.

The announcement also outlined plans to increase the company's profitability.

Standard Chartered is not the first financial services firm to shed roles as AI takes on more work currently done by humans.

In February, Singapore's biggest bank, DBS, said it expected to cut about 4,000 contract and temporary roles over the next three years.

Huge AI-related job losses are expected to hit technology industry workers and graduates particularly hard.

Several big tech firms, most of which are spending huge sums on building tools and infrastructure for AI technology, have made major job cuts this year.

In April, Facebook owner Meta said it will cut thousands of jobs next month as it spends more than ever on AI projects.

The company told employees that it planned to cut 10% of its workforce - roughly 8,000 staff. It said it would also not fill thousands more open jobs it had been hiring for.

Amazon announced in January that it would lay off more than 30,000 workers, while Oracle laid off more than 10,000 workers.