Barclays is latest to redirect spending toward AI as it trims its
workforce
[October 24, 2026] By
MICHELLE CHAPMAN
The cost of building out the infrastructure needed to satisfy booming
demand for artificial intelligence is changing the way major companies
allocate resources. That can mean an end to some jobs once done by
humans. Yet in many cases it means repurposing money once spent on
workers so that more capital can be devoted to boosting AI capabilities.
Just how much money is being spent on AI is a hot topic as fears of a
bubble in the sector grow, but the potential impact on workers in some
sectors is clear.
Here's a look at some of the companies that have announced layoffs or
hiring reductions this year that are tied in some way to massive
spending on AI.
Barclays
The U.K. bank and financial services company revealed in a quarterly
financial report this week that it is looking to cut 5,000 jobs, or
about 5% of its workforce.
The company said that it was seeking “organisational simplification and
technology change efficiency driven by AI.” Approximately 60% of the
cuts will be from support functions, including developers.
Financial institutions are among the most active in deploying AI, in
many cases at the expense of workers. Norway's DNB and Commerzbank in
Germany have also announced job cuts in parallel with a push into AI.
Kroger
Kroger said last week that it will lay off 3,000 corporate employees
over the next three years as the national grocery chain ramps up its use
of artificial intelligence.
“Technology is reshaping what’s possible,” CEO Greg Foran wrote in a
memo to employees. “The way work gets done is changing across every
industry; we must adapt and take advantage of technology. We need to
adopt capabilities, reduce duplicative work and look closely at where
work is best fit to be done.”
Kroger last month outlined its AI strategy, meant “to improve the
customer experience, make work easier for associates and produce better
business outcomes.”
The Cincinnati company is the largest standalone U.S. supermarket chain
with 409,000 employees and more than 2,700 stores operating under
various brands, including Ralphs, King Soopers, Smith’s and Fred Meyer.
Meta
The company that runs Facebook and Instagram said it would lay off about
8,000 workers, or about 10% of its workforce, as it continues to ramp up
spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure and highly paid
AI-expert hires.
The company said in April that it was making the cuts for the sake of
efficiency and to allow new investments in parts of its business, as
first reported by Bloomberg, which also said the company will leave
about 6,000 jobs unfilled.
Meta had already warned investors that its 2026 expenses will grow
significantly — to as much as $169 billion — driven by infrastructure
costs and employee compensation, particularly for the artificial
intelligence experts it’s been hiring.
Microsoft
Software giant Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to thousands of
its U.S. employees.
The company planned to make the offers in early May to about 8,750
people, or 7% of its U.S. workforce, according to two people familiar
with the plan who were not authorized to speak about it publicly.
[to top of second column] |
 Microsoft has spent billions of
dollars operating an ever-expanding global network of data centers
powering cloud computing services, AI systems and its own suite of
productivity tools, including the AI assistant Copilot.
Standard Chartered
The U.K.-based bank is planning to cut more than 15% of its back
office employees by 2030.
Standard Chartered said in May that it was “scaling practical uses
of automation, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to
streamline processes, improve decision‑making and enhance both
client service and internal efficiency.”
Coinbase
The cryptocurrency trading platform is cutting approximately 14% of
its workforce partly due to AI.
In a blog post, CEO Brian Armstrong said that AI was changing the
way that Coinbase worked.
“Over the past year, I’ve watched engineers use AI to ship in days
what used to take a team weeks,” he wrote. “Non-technical teams are
now shipping production code and many of our workflows are being
automated. The pace of what’s possible with a small, focused team
has changed dramatically, and it’s accelerating every day.”
Armstrong said that the company needed to take action.
“We are adjusting early and deliberately to rebuild Coinbase to be
lean, fast, and AI-native,” he wrote.
Pinterest
Pinterest announced in January that it planned to lay off under 15%
of its workforce as part of a broader restructuring as the
image-sharing platform pivots more of its money to artificial
intelligence.
In a securities filing, the company said that it was making the cuts
to support “transformation initiatives” — which include reallocating
resources to AI-focused roles and prioritizing AI-powered products.
It said it was also working to reshape its “sales and go-to-market
approach.”
Snap
The owner of social media platform Snapchat is eliminating about 16%
of its global workforce, or about 1,000 jobs.
“The headcount reduction is designed to further streamline our
operations and reallocate resources toward our highest-priority
initiatives, leveraging increased operational efficiencies to
accelerate our path toward net-income profitability,” the company
said in a regulatory filing.
CEO Evan Spiegel said in a letter to staff in April that another 300
open roles would not be filled.
Block
Financial technology company Block is laying off more than 4,000 of
its 10,000 plus employees, reconfiguring to capitalize on its use of
artificial intelligence.
“The core thesis is simple. Intelligence tools have changed what it
means to build and run a company,” Jack Dorsey said in a letter to
shareholders in Block, the parent company to online payment
platforms such as Square and Cash App. “A significantly smaller
team, using the tools we’re building, can do more and do it better,”
he said.
Dorsey’s comments explicitly naming AI as a key driver behind the
decision were also posted on X, or Twitter, a company he co-founded.
The announcement has sent shares of the company sharply higher this
year, up 19%, reversing a 12% decline in the previous year.
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