Barclays is eliminating around 5,000 jobs - roughly 5% of its global workforce - after already closing 1,000 posts and planning a further 4,000 cuts by the end of the year. Most reductions target operational and functional roles, with about 60% falling within support functions, including developer positions. The layoffs come as Barclays concludes a three-year cost-cutting programme focused on UK retail banking (with investment banking also affected) and reported a quarterly profit of £2.3bn to September, higher than a year earlier but slightly below forecasts.
Executives say the job cuts stem from a sustained modernisation drive in which technology investments simplify operations; artificial intelligence is described as an accelerating factor rather than the sole cause. CEO CS Venkatakrishnan framed AI as an efficiency booster dependent on prior infrastructure work, and Barclays sees it playing a growing role going forward. Economists and markets are watching whether such AI deployment genuinely delivers recurring efficiency gains and reduced headcount across the sector. The move signals accelerating adoption of automation in back-office and support roles and highlights the trade-off between cost savings and workforce impact as banks integrate AI into core processes.
Summary generated by AI from the linked article. hn.today is not affiliated with Hacker News or Y Combinator.
Hedra is a 3D open world game created from scratch by a high school student, with a codebase exceeding 100,000 lines. It is available on Steam and involves game development tools like Bullet physics, OpenGL, and GLSL. (github.com)
Mark Zuckerberg considered leaving California due to a wealth tax. Meta's board offered him a deal to stay in the state. (wsj.com)
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby advocates for a national wealth tax and near 100% inheritance tax on the ultra-wealthy to address economic inequality. He also defends airline charges for premium services, emphasizing personalized customer experiences. (firstformoney.com)
AI enables the enclosure of the scientific information commons, transforming shared knowledge into private assets. This shift risks undermining the social and collaborative foundations of scientific progress, similar to historical enclosures of common lands. (arxiv.org)
A retired decorator from Woking sold a collection of Pokémon cards for £1.56 million at auction, making it possibly the most valuable trading cards auction in the UK and Europe. The cards, stored in an attic for 15 years and in mint condition, included a rare Charizard card that sold for £100,000. (bbc.co.uk)
Elon Musk invested approximately $1 billion in Skydance, a company formed after Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The investment aims to support Skydance's efforts to cut costs and merge major film studios and streaming platforms. (cnbc.com)
Today's best Hacker News stories, summarized and screenshotted, one email a day.