Amid AI push, DBS to cut 4,000 temp jobs over next 3 years

DBS Group plans to cut about 4,000 jobs over the next three years as it expects artificial intelligence (AI) to replace more roles, said outgoing CEO Piyush Gupta on Monday (Feb 24).

"My current projection in the next three years, we'll shrink our workforce by about 4,000 or 10 per cent," he said when speaking at an industry conference in Mumbai.

Only contract and temporary roles will be affected, Gupta said, adding that 1,000 AI-related roles will also be created.

About 8,000 to 9,000 of the bank's 41,000 staff are in contract and temporary roles, Bloomberg reported.

"In my 15 years of being a CEO, for the first time, I'm struggling to create jobs. So far, I've always had a line of sight to what jobs I can create," said Gupta, 65.

"This time I'm struggling to say how will I repurpose people to create jobs."

He will be retiring come March 28, and will be succeeded by current deputy CEO Tan Su Shan.

Permanent staff unaffected: DBS

DBS told AsiaOne on Tuesday that they envisage that AI could reduce the need to renew about 4,000 temporary or contract staff working on specific projects across 19 markets over the next three years.

"As such, we expect the reduction in workforce will come from natural attrition as these temporary and contract roles are completed over the next few years," said a DBS spokesperson. 

"Our permanent staff across all our markets are not impacted."

The bank said that they will continue to invest in upskilling and reskilling their employees to enable them to be future ready. 

DBS added that it has identified about 13,000 staff for upskilling or reskilling, and to date, more than 10,000 have started the process.

AI affecting roles in banking

As AI takes over tasks previously carried out by humans, as many as 200,000 global banking jobs may be on the line in the next three to five years, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence report published in January.

Back office, middle office and operations roles are reportedly the most at risk.

"Any jobs involving routine, repetitive tasks are at risk," said the senior analyst who wrote the report.

Many firms, however, expect roles to be transformed by technology instead of being replaced altogether.

JPMorgan’s adoption of generative AI has augmented jobs so far, said Teresa Heitsenrether, who oversees the bank's AI efforts.

dana.leong@asiaone.com

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