Standard Chartered to cut 7,000 jobs, ramps up AI adoption efforts

Standard Chartered will cut 7,000 jobs, or 15% of its corporate functions, by 2030. The lender is scaling up AI adoption to streamline operations, targeting back-office centres in Chennai, Bangalore, Kuala Lumpur and Warsaw.

AI-driven Restructuring to Cut 7,000 Jobs

Standard Chartered plans to cut 7,000 jobs as the lender ramps up efforts to scale AI adoption to make its operations slimmer and more streamlined, Reuters reported. The bank said it would slash 15% of the corporate functions by 2030.

According to a Reuters estimate, the move will translate into 7,000 positions becoming redundant out of the more than 52,000 such roles in the organisation. The London-headquartered lender aims for more than 15% return on tangible equity in 2028, eventually leading to about 18% in 2030, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

New Financial Targets and Strategic Focus

"We are investing in the capabilities that will compound our competitive advantages and drive sustainable growth and higher quality returns over time, with clear targets in place," the WSJ report quoted the bank's chief executive Bill Winters as saying. The move will hit bank's back-office centres, including those in Chennai, Bangalore, Kuala Lumpur and Warsaw, according to Reuters.

The lender also aims for an increase of around 20% in the income per employee by 2028, which will be supported by the planned reduction in corporate functions. StanChart joins a growing club of global corporate biggies that are deploying AI tools to make their operations more efficient.

The bank also laid to rest speculations around succession planning, saying that Winters will continue to be at the helm to see through the planned changes. The bank's new targets will see a renewed focus on key businesses like retail clients and its corporate and investment banking divisions.

Addressing Geopolitical Concerns

The bank's new targets come at a moment of global uncertainty with the West Asia conflict raging and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz fuelling oil prices and casting a pall of gloom on new investments by major corporates. Winters set aside concerns regarding the Iran war and its impact on the bank's business, emphasising that the bank is 'extremely resilient'.

The bank had set aside $190 million in precautionary provisions linked to the West Asia conflict in the first quarter.

Leadership Update: New CFO Named

On Monday, the bank named Manus Costello, investor relations head and equity research veteran, as its permanent CFO. He will succeed Diego De Giorgi, who resigned in February after spending nearly three years with the bank.

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