O banco britânico Barclays anunciou hoje lucros atribuíveis de 5.837 milhões de libras (6.963 milhões de euros) até setembro, um aumento de 17% em termos homólogos, e um corte de 5.000 postos de trabalho devido à implementação de IA.

Num comunicado enviado à Bolsa de Valores de Londres, a instituição britânica aponta que o lucro antes de impostos atingiu 8.388 milhões de libras (10.007 milhões de euros), mais 15% que no mesmo período do ano passado, enquanto as receitas totais aumentaram 8% para 23.866 milhões de libras (28.471 milhões de euros).

Já as despesas operacionais cresceram 4% face ao período homólogo para 13.625 milhões de libras (16.254 milhões de euros).

O banco anunciou, ainda um programa de recompra de ações no valor de 500 milhões de libras (597 milhões de euros).

Citado no comunicado, o presidente executivo do Barclays, C. S. Venkatakrishnan, enalteceu o bom desempenho do banco no período e reforçou a confiança de que a instituição vai atingir as metas de 2028.

“No terceiro trimestre tivemos um crescimento homólogo de 7% na concessão de empréstimos nas nossas unidades de negócio com maior rentabilidade no Reino Unido, destacando-se especialmente a banca corporativa no Reino Unido, que teve um aumento homólogo de 14%”, referiu.

Venkatakrishnan justificou ainda o programa de recompra com a “forte criação de capital” e bom rácio de fundos próprios.

Depois do anúncio dos resultados, a administradora financeira do Barclays, Anna Cross, anunciou que a instituição prevê cortar este ano 5.000 postos de trabalho – o equivalente a 5% da sua força laboral – devido à integração de inteligência artificial (IA).

Em conferência de imprensa, em Londres, Anna Cross explicou que já foram eliminados mil postos de trabalho desde o início do ano e que se esperam reduzir outros 4.000 até ao final do trimestre.

Segundo o banco, a maior parte dos cortes vai afetar funções operacionais e de gestão em toda a instituição.

De acordo com Venkatakrishnan, a decisão resulta “dos investimentos em tecnologia” que têm sido feitos ao longo dos anos e que continuam a ser realizados.

A tecnologia, de acordo com o responsável, permitiu otimizar fluxos de trabalho e reduzir a necessidade de determinados perfis, como programadores.

Em Portugal, o Barclays vendeu, em 2016, o negócio da banca de retalho ao Bankinter.

CEO of Barclays tells reporters: ‘I deeply respect the responsibility that the chancellor has and he has our full support and backing’

The Office for National Statistics has also published a report on the gender pay gap. It says:

The gender pay gap for full-time employees has continued to decline in the UK. It was 6.8% in April 2026, down from 7.2% in April 2025. This compares with 9.4% a decade ago and 16.4% 25 years ago.

Secondly, I asked Healey whether he sees the banks as making excessive profits, which would be the coherent justification for him to increase the surcharge on bank profits – as he is expected to do in the Budget next week.

He said: “You know the banks are the engine of investment in this country. The banks are doing well at the moment and that is good to see.

• Barclays said it's cutting 5,000 jobs, or 5% of its workforce, in an AI push.
• Most of the cuts will impact support functions, including developers.
• Wall Street at large is grappling with how AI will transform both back- and front-office roles.

Barclays said it's cutting 5,000 jobs, or around 5% of its full-time workforce, as it increases its reliance on AI.

The British bank said in its third-quarter earnings statement that it is "structurally reducing" its costs through "technology-enabled" head count reductions.

Barclays laid out the numbers in its accompanying earnings presentation, linking the cuts specifically to "organisational simplification and technology change efficiency driven by AI."

Around 60% of the cuts will impact support functions, including developers, according to the presentation. Coding has become one of the main business use cases for AI across industries, causing some companies to cut back on developers.

Anna Cross, Barclays' group finance director, said the layoffs come as "AI makes our people more productive."

"Nowhere in the bank is this more relevant than in Barclays UK, where we have taken more structural cost actions than planned in '26," she said on the earnings call.

Wall Street is grappling with how AI will impact head count for both back- and front-office roles, as much of junior bankers' technical, repetitive workload can be automated. Some executives have said they're looking for young people with sharp judgment and communication skills rather than just analytical brainpower, as AI places an even greater premium on client interactions.

Goldman Sachs said in a memo last year that it plans to "restrain head count growth," and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has said he will likely hire fewer bankers and more "AI people."

Barclays joins a growing list of companies that have announced AI-related layoffs this year, including Snap and Coinbase. Business Insider analyzed 15 layoff memos earlier this year and found that "AI" was the most commonly used term.

AI hasn't always led to companies cutting back. Some companies have increased hiring, while others have cut some roles and hired more for others.

Equating to the loss of 5% of its 93,000 global staff, job cuts come as bank announces jump in quarterly profits

• Business live – latest updates

Barclays is cutting 5,000 jobs as part of wider cost-cutting plans that its bosses say are being driven by advances in AI.

The job cuts will mean losing about 5% of the bank’s 93,000 global staff, with executives confirming they had already cut 1,000 workers since the start of the year.