_updates.jpg)
The CEO of Standard Chartered, Bill Winters, has issued an apology after describing employees whose jobs are at risk of being replaced by AI as "lower value human capital".
At a recent conference, when discussing thousands of potential job cuts at the bank, Winters said it was not about downsizing but "replacing, in some cases, lower value, human capital, with the financial capital that we're putting in".
Clarifying his remarks, the CEO turned to his LinkedIn and said he was sorry for his wording, which had "caused upset to some colleagues", and that he was committed to helping staff "cope with the accelerating pace of change".
The rise of AI has led to the probability of huge job losses, particularly for tech workers, with Amazon, Meta and Microsoft laying off tens of thousands of workers over the last year.
Standard Chartered is a global bank based in the UK and employs around 82,000 people, with most of the workers in back-office roles.
In his statement, Winters said that the bank had shared its expectation that back-office roles would be cut by about 15 per cent over the next four years, which is about 7,800 roles.
Winters shared that over the years Standard Chartered has helped employees "whose roles may be displaced by automation to build the skills needed for new opportunities within our organisation."
"In that context, I said that lower-value roles are more vulnerable to automation, and that we have a responsibility to help colleagues move into higher-value roles," he wrote.
"That is what a responsible employer should do, and I am proud that our track record in supporting internal transitions is strong," Winters penned in his post.
