Barclays to cut 5,000 jobs, citing AI efficiencies and simpler operations

Barclays plans to eliminate 5,000 jobs, about 5% of its workforce, with support functions—including developers—expected to bear most of the cuts. The British bank disclosed the plan in its October 22 third-quarter earnings statement, linking the reductions to simpler operations and AI-driven technology efficiencies, according to CNBC.

The bank described the reductions as a way to lower its underlying costs and make room for investment. Its explanation combines changes to the organization with gains from technology, rather than presenting AI as the sole reason for the planned workforce reduction.

Developers are explicitly included among the support functions facing cuts. That puts software work within the scope of the restructuring, even as Barclays is rolling out AI tools intended to help its engineers build software faster and modernize older systems.

structurally reducing the cost base to generate capacity for investment

Barclays, in its third-quarter earnings statement, as quoted by CNBC

The earlier promise for software teams

An October 1 announcement from Anthropic provides context for that push. It described Barclays extending Claude across the bank to accelerate software development, modernize legacy systems and improve operational efficiency. Those were the stated purposes of the rollout, not a calculation of how many employees the technology could replace.

The announcement set an adoption target for Claude Code, Anthropic’s coding tool: Barclays expected it to reach 50% of its developer population by the end of 2026, then a majority of software engineers in 2027.

At the time, Barclays Group Co-Chief Operating Officer Craig Bright described AI becoming embedded in how the bank builds, tests, secures and operates technology. He said Claude would help improve software quality and let technical experts concentrate on the most complex challenges.

AI is already handling operational work

The rollout also extends beyond coding. Anthropic said Barclays’ Colleague Knowledge Assistant had been live since 2025, helping UK employees find information when supporting the bank’s more than 20 million UK retail customers. More than 16,000 colleagues had adopted the Claude-powered assistant, which had handled over one million searches.

In Global Markets, the work is different: Claude models help classify incoming client emails, add information and determine where requests should go for processing. Anthropic said the platform processes approximately 120,000 emails each day. It described the system as reducing manual handling while helping operations staff prioritize requests and check that they contain the information needed for action.

Barclays’ earlier explanation also put people and oversight at the center of deployment. Group Co-Chief Operating Officer Anne Marie Darling said reducing routine work would let colleagues focus their expertise on more complex problems and customer outcomes. Anthropic said the bank applies governance, security controls and human oversight to its AI uses—requirements that remain part of the stated operating model alongside the new cost-cutting plan.