Bill Winters, chief executive of Standard Chartered, has apologised after referring to some of the nearly 8,000 employees set to lose their jobs to artificial intelligence as 'lower-value human capital'. The London-headquartered bank announced plans to cut about 7,800 back-office roles, primarily due to AI, making it one of the first major global banks to do so.
Winters faced backlash for his comments earlier this week, where he stated: 'It's not cost-cutting. It's replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital we're putting in.' He attempted to clarify his remarks in a LinkedIn post on Friday, but after receiving a string of negative comments, he returned to the platform to apologise.
In his apology, Winters said: 'I have received a lot of support for the messages in my previous post but still get questions about my choice of words, which I know has caused upset to some colleagues. For that I am sorry.' However, he again provided the full transcript of his earlier comments, saying he hoped it gave a 'better understanding' of his point and that he wanted to help colleagues 'cope with the accelerating pace of change in our industry'.
Many commenters remained critical, with one stating: 'I'm struggling to see the difference between what you said and what is written. This was either a poor choice of words or an honest belief that came out as intended.' Another said: 'Your comments were utterly disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself for committing them to a post.'
Standard Chartered intends to cut 15% of its more than 52,000 back-office roles by 2030, affecting centres in Chennai, Bengaluru, Kuala Lumpur, and Warsaw. The bank has a global workforce of almost 82,000. The cuts come alongside higher shareholder return targets announced in a strategy update, as the bank nears the end of a decade-long transformation effort.
