UK banking giant Standard Chartered has unveiled a shock plan: more than 15% of its support staff will be cut by 2030.
The cuts will hit corporate functions, from human resources to IT. The group’s shares opened weakly on the London Stock Exchange, slipping about 0.35%.
Standard Chartered stock had been on a powerful rally, soaring nearly 120% between April 2025 and early February of this year. The run stalled, in part because of the abrupt departure of CFO Diego De Giorgi. Since then the shares have recovered ground, climbing more than 5% since the start of 2026 and now trading roughly 63% higher than at the same point last year.
Standard Chartered ready to show more than 7,800 employees the door
Standard Chartered — a UK-based multinational specialized in financial services for businesses, institutions, and private clients, with a strong footprint in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East — justified the decision to let thousands of employees go by citing the need to lift profitability while, at the same time, raising overall employee compensation by roughly 20% by 2028.
The layoffs will be substantial. Of Standard Chartered’s 82,000 employees, per 2025 data, roughly 52,000 sit in so-called support roles. A cut of more than 15% of staff in those corporate functions would push almost 8,000 employees out the door — more than 7,800 workers in practice.
Standard Chartered aims for more ambitious targets
CEO Bill Winters reiterated the need to hit more ambitious targets.
Chief among them is delivering a ROTE (return on tangible equity) of 15% in 2028, up 3 percentage points from 2025, and roughly 18% by 2030.
The bank also wants to improve its cost-to-income ratio — the relationship between operating costs and a bank’s intermediation margin — to 57% by 2028.
«We are investing in capabilities that will reinforce our competitive advantages and drive sustainable growth and higher-quality returns over time, with clear objectives,» the chief executive said.
Jefferies weighs in and reaffirms its rating and target price on the stock
Jefferies analyst Joseph Dickerson explained the Standard Chartered plan on CNBC.
Calling the new targets «prudently calibrated,» Dickerson noted that the goals could allow the British bank to deliver EPS (earnings per share) growth of roughly 10–15%, without ruling out the possibility that estimates could be exceeded.
On revenues, «the broader picture is that the bank can clearly commit to revenue growth of between 5% and 7%, given the opportunities present in its operating footprint against a wider, uncertain geopolitical and macroeconomic backdrop,» Dickerson added.
On the stock, Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating with a target price of 2,250 pence (about $28), compared with the 1,921.50 pence (about $24) at which the shares closed the previous session on the London Stock Exchange.
The CEO’s AI rationale: roles cut in favor of machines
Commenting on the mass layoffs, the bank’s CEO delivered remarks that did not go unnoticed: «This is not cost-cutting; in some cases we are replacing lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investments we are putting on the table,» adding that affected staff would receive «clear and adequate notice» in advance.
He went further: «There will be no job losses, but reductions of work roles in favor of machines — a situation that will accelerate as we make progress with AI.»
What’s behind the move, unsurprisingly, is the bank’s steady adoption of artificial intelligence, which will render thousands of positions redundant. The pattern is spreading across the world’s largest financial firms.
Just recently, Goldman Sachs President and COO John Waldron described the Wall Street giant’s traditional operations as «a human assembly line» ready to be automated.
Editor’s note
This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by Laura Naka Antonelli on May 19, 2026 as «Standard Chartered shock, licenzia più di 7.800 dipendenti in queste divisioni». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.
