Standard Chartered's chief executive, Bill Winters, has apologised for referring to some of the almost 8,000 employees set to lose their jobs to artificial intelligence as “lower-value human capital”. The apology came after a backlash over comments he made earlier this week, when the London-headquartered lender outlined plans to cut around 7,800 back-office roles, primarily in response to AI.
Winters had said: “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.” Following a stream of negative comments, he posted a clarification on LinkedIn, explaining that lower-value roles are more vulnerable to automation and that the bank has a responsibility to help colleagues move into higher-value roles. He then issued a further apology, saying he was sorry his choice of words had caused upset.
Despite the apology, many commenters remained critical, with one stating they struggled to see the difference between his original comments and his explanation, while another described the remarks as “utterly disgusting”. Winters, however, defended his position by providing the full transcript of his original statement, saying he hoped it would give a “better understanding” of his point and that he wanted to help staff cope with the accelerating pace of change in the industry.
Standard Chartered intends to cut 15% of its more than 52,000 back-office roles by 2030. The bank, which employs almost 82,000 people globally, expects the most significant job losses in its back-office centres in Chennai, Bengaluru, Kuala Lumpur and Warsaw. The cuts form part of a wider strategy update that also includes higher shareholder return targets, as the bank nears the end of a decade-long effort to transform itself from a potential takeover target into a steadily profitable lender.
