Standard Chartered targets 15% support role cut by 2030 as AI drives efficiency push
Standard Chartered plans to cut more than 15 per cent of corporate support roles by 2030 as it expands the use of artificial intelligence and automation across operations. The lender also raised medium-term profitability targets after reporting record earnings and strong wealth management growth.
- Standard Chartered plans to reduce more than 15 per cent of support-function roles by 2030 as AI and automation expand across operations.
- The bank raised medium-term profitability targets, aiming for 15 per cent RoTE by 2028 and around 18 per cent by 2030.
- Strong wealth management growth and record earnings helped support the lender’s new expansion strategy despite geopolitical risks.
HONG KONG: Standard Chartered plans to reduce more than 15 per cent of its corporate support roles by 2030 as the bank accelerates the use of artificial intelligence, automation and advanced analytics to improve efficiency and boost returns.
The lender said on 19 May that its next phase of growth would be supported by a “simpler, faster and more connected operating model”, with disciplined workforce planning and wider deployment of technology across its operations.
The cuts will primarily affect back-office and support functions.
Based on the bank’s June 2025 workforce data, the reduction could amount to more than 7,000 jobs from roughly 51,000 support-service roles within its global workforce of about 80,000 employees.
Chief executive Bill Winters insisted the changes were not simply a cost-cutting exercise.
“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,” Winters told reporters during a press conference in Hong Kong.
AI and automation central to restructuring
The bank said it was scaling “practical uses of automation, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence” to streamline processes, improve decision-making and enhance client service as well as internal efficiency.
The measures form part of Standard Chartered’s broader productivity drive, with the lender aiming to increase income per employee by around 20 per cent by 2028.
The restructuring effort follows the bank’s ongoing “Fit for Growth” programme, which is scheduled to conclude in 2026.
The initiative was designed to simplify operations and deliver US$1.5 billion in savings through hundreds of operational projects ranging from smaller workflow changes to major system overhauls.
In its investor presentation, the bank said it had already achieved its previous medium-term financial targets a year ahead of schedule, leaving it “more focused, streamlined and efficient” for the next stage of expansion.
Higher profitability targets
Alongside the restructuring plans, the lender unveiled more ambitious profitability goals for the coming years.
Standard Chartered said it was targeting a return on tangible equity of more than 15 per cent by 2028, rising to around 18 per cent by 2030.
That represents an increase of more than three percentage points from 2025 levels.
The bank also aims to improve its cost-to-income ratio to about 57 per cent by 2028, down from 63 per cent in 2025, while generating high-teens earnings-per-share compound annual growth and income growth of between 5 and 7 per cent from 2025 to 2028.
“We are investing in the capabilities that will compound our competitive advantages and drive sustainable growth and higher quality returns over time, with clear targets in place,” Winters said in a statement.
The lender said it would continue operating within a common equity tier one ratio range of 13 to 14 per cent while maintaining a progressive dividend policy.
Wealth business drives growth
The investor update comes after Standard Chartered posted record earnings that exceeded analyst expectations, helped by strong performance in its wealth management business.
The bank reported a record US$18 billion in net new money inflows into its wealth division, cushioning the impact of US$190 million in precautionary provisions linked to risks arising from conflict in the Middle East.
Standard Chartered said it had become the third-largest and fastest-growing wealth manager in Asia.
The bank’s Wealth and Retail Banking division is now accelerating targets previously set for 2029, aiming to achieve US$200 billion in net new money by 2028 instead.
The lender also said affluent clients would account for 75 per cent of the division’s income under the revised strategy. It plans to invest disproportionately in wealth management while focusing on markets where it believes it has scale and a stronger client proposition.
In Hong Kong, the bank said it would align parts of its retail portfolio more closely with digital bank Mox Bank to support future affluent customer growth.
Leadership changes and investor focus
The bank’s investor event in Hong Kong also comes amid recent leadership changes.
On 18 May, Standard Chartered named Manus Costello as its new chief financial officer, replacing Diego De Giorgi. Costello joined the lender in 2024 as global head of investor relations after previously working as a banking research analyst.
De Giorgi, formerly of Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, had widely been viewed as a possible successor to Winters before his departure.
Standard Chartered shares had surged nearly 120 per cent between April 2025 and February 2026 before being hit by investor concerns over De Giorgi’s exit and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The shares have since largely recovered.
