Standard Chartered plans to cut thousands of support jobs over the next four years as global banks increasingly use artificial intelligence to reduce workforce costs.
The lender said it aims to reduce corporate function roles by more than 15% by 2030 while expanding the use of AI to improve operational efficiency. Standard Chartered had 52,271 employees in back-office functions at the end of last year.
The move aligns Standard Chartered with global peers seeking technological efficiencies. HSBC Holdings Plc is mulling deep job cuts over the coming years, while Wall Street firms are similarly pivoting. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. President and Chief Operating Officer John Waldron recently described his firm’s traditional operations as a “human assembly line” ripe for automation.
Standard Chartered shares rose as much as 2.4% in morning trading in Hong Kong.
The announcement comes as Standard Chartered kicks off an investor and analyst hub in Hong Kong on Tuesday. Winters and his management team are set to outline the bank’s medium-term financial framework, growth initiatives, and strategic priorities.
Alongside the AI-driven restructuring and a recent reshuffle of senior management, the lender unveiled new return targets. Standard Chartered is aiming for a 3 percentage point improvement in its return on tangible equity, targeting more than 15% in 2028 and about 18% in 2030. The bank also expects to improve its cost-to-income ratio to 57% in 2028.
The job cuts would drive productivity improvements to raise income per employee by about 20% by 2028, according to the bank. Corporate function roles are support roles and include positions such as risk management and regulatory compliance, according to its website.
The bank is meeting with investors after earnings hit records and comfortably outpaced analyst estimates, bolstered by a record $18 billion in net new money flows to its wealth business. That helped cushion the blow from $190 million in “precautionary management overlays” set aside to navigate risks stemming from conflict in the Middle East.
The bank’s “Fit for Growth” restructuring program is slated to conclude this year. The initiative, designed to streamline operations and deliver $1.5 billion in savings, comprised hundreds of individual projects with targets ranging from minor operational tweaks to multi-million dollar overhauls.
After surging almost 120% between early April 2025 and early February this year, the share rally suffered a setback, first from the surprise departure of Chief Financial Officer Diego De Giorgi, and later from the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East. They have largely recovered since then.
De Giorgi, a veteran of Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., was widely considered a top contender to eventually succeed Winter.
The lender earlier this week named Manus Costello as its new chief financial officer, promoting a former research analyst and critic of the bank to replace De Giorgi. Costello was hired in 2024 as global head of investor relations.
(With agency inputs)