Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters sought to assuage staff concerns on Wednesday, a day after saying that the bank will cut thousands of jobs over the next four years as it moves to replace “lower-value human capital” with technology.<\/p>\n
\n“Many of you will have seen media coverage following the Investor Event in Hong Kong, particularly the reporting around automation, AI, and workforce changes,” Winters said in a memo to the bank’s \u2060staff reviewed by \u2060Reuters.<\/p>\n
\n“I know this may be unsettling when reduced to simple headlines or a quote out of context,” he said.<\/p>\n
\nA spokesperson for the bank confirmed the memo’s content.<\/p>\n
\nStanChart said on Tuesday it would cut 15% of \u2060its corporate function roles by 2030, which, according to a Reuters calculation, would result in nearly 8,000 redundancies out of its more than 52,000 staff in such roles.<\/p>\n
\nThe bank cited AI as a driver to slim its operations in its quest to increase profitability and tackle competition.<\/p>\n
\n“It’s not cost-cutting. It’s replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital \u2060and \u2060the investment capital we’re putting in,” Winters said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\nIn his memo to staff on Wednesday, Winters said the bank had been open that its workforce will evolve.<\/p>\n
\n“Some roles will reduce in number, some will change, and new opportunities will emerge. We will continue to prioritize investment in reskilling and redeployment wherever we can,” he said.<\/p>\n
\n“Where changes do happen, we will handle them with thought and care,” he added.<\/p>\n