Barclays announced plans on Thursday to eliminate roughly 5,000 positions—representing about 5% of its global workforce—by the end of 2026. The move comes as part of a sweeping operational restructuring driven by artificial intelligence and automated technologies.
According to an earnings presentation released alongside its third-quarter results, the British banking giant is pursuing aggressive “organisational simplification and technology change efficiency.”
The bank specified that back-office support operations will bear the brunt of the downsizing, with approximately 60% of the cuts targeting support functions and software development roles as AI integration increases workforce output.
The announcement coincided with a solid quarterly financial performance. Barclays posted a 13% year-on-year increase in net profit, with profit after tax rising to £1.65 billion ($2.2 billion) for the July-September period, up from £1.46 billion during the same period last year.
Total group revenue grew 3% to £7.37 billion, largely fueled by strong activity within its investment banking operations. Income from equities trading posted a standout performance, surging 47% year-on-year.
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Chief Executive C. S. Venkatakrishnan highlighted the firm’s “ongoing momentum of operational and financial performance,” pointing directly to the investment division’s equity gains as a key driver.
Despite the positive net profit figures and modest gains in share price following the release, analysts noted lingering headwinds for the lender.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, pointed out that parts of the quarterly performance fell short of market expectations, and an announced share buyback was not enough to fully dissipate investor caution.
Furthermore, Barclays faces mounting external and internal pressures across its wider business. Costs across the group rose over the quarter, while investors remain watchful of two key headwinds: a anticipated tax increase on the UK banking sector in an upcoming government budget, and an ongoing probe into potential risk misrepresentation within the bank’s private credit portfolio.