Barclays to axe 5,000 jobs in huge blow to City as AI replaces workers

The job losses, which will be a blow to the City, are expected to happen this year as the bank turns to AI to make it more efficient.

The grim news came as Barclays revealed its profits grew by more than a 10th in the third quarter after cutting business costs and cashing in on stock market trading.

The banking group reported a pre-tax profit of £2.3 billion for the three months to the end of September, which was 12% higher than the same period a year ago.

Income from both its UK retail and corporate banks increased, as well as from its wealth management arm and investment bank.

The investment bank, which generated the highest income of all the divisions at £3.1 billion, has benefited from a stronger performance for equity trading in global stock markets this year.

Income from equities soared by 47% in the third quarter, compared with last year, Barclays said.

This helped offset a 19% reduction in income from its fixed income trading arm.

Barclays is coming towards the end of a three-year strategy to boost performance.

This has involved major cost-cutting and ramping up technology capabilities.

In the third quarter, the company made some £200 million worth of cost efficiency savings, and it has a further roughly £300 million planned for the final three months of the year.

Group chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan, known within the bank as Venkat, said: “With one quarter to go before the end of our original three-year plan, we have either achieved or are on track to achieve all of our 2026 group targets.

“We are confident in and committed to the 2028 targets that we laid out earlier in the year.”