Companies Cut Jobs as AI Spending Grows

Barclays said in a quarterly financial report this week that it is looking to cut 5,000 jobs, about 5% of its workforce, citing “organisational simplification and technology change efficiency driven by AI.” About 60% of the cuts are expected to come from support functions, including developers. The U.K. bank is among several companies shifting resources toward AI as they reduce or limit staffing.

Kroger said last week it will eliminate 3,000 corporate jobs over the next three years while expanding its use of AI. CEO Greg Foran said technology is changing how work gets done and that Kroger needs to adopt capabilities, reduce duplicate work and assess where tasks should be performed. Last month, the company outlined an AI strategy intended to improve customer experience, make work easier for associates and produce better business outcomes. Kroger has 409,000 employees and more than 2,700 stores under brands including Ralphs, King Soopers, Smith’s and Fred Meyer.

Meta plans to lay off about 8,000 workers, or about 10% of its workforce, while increasing spending on AI infrastructure and AI experts. In April, it said the cuts would support efficiency and investment elsewhere; Bloomberg reported that about 6,000 jobs would remain unfilled. Meta had told investors that 2026 expenses could reach $169 billion, driven by infrastructure and employee compensation, particularly for AI hires. Microsoft planned voluntary buyouts in early May for about 8,750 U.S. employees, or 7% of its U.S. workforce, according to two people familiar with the plan. Its data centers support cloud services, AI systems and products including Copilot.

Standard Chartered plans to cut more than 15% of its back-office employees by 2030. In May, it said it was expanding uses of automation, advanced analytics and AI to streamline processes, improve decisions and enhance client service and internal efficiency. Coinbase is cutting about 14% of its workforce partly because of AI, CEO Brian Armstrong said, citing engineers completing in days work that once took teams weeks, nontechnical staff shipping production code and automated workflows. He said the company aimed to become leaner and “AI-native.”

Pinterest announced in January that it planned to cut under 15% of its workforce in a restructuring that reallocates resources to AI-focused roles and prioritizes AI-powered products. Snap is eliminating about 16% of its global workforce, or about 1,000 jobs, and said in a filing that the move would redirect resources to priority initiatives. CEO Evan Spiegel said in April that another 300 open roles would remain unfilled. Block is laying off more than 4,000 of its 10,000-plus employees as it reorganizes around AI. Jack Dorsey said a smaller team using the company’s tools could do more and do it better. Block shares were up 19% this year, reversing a 12% decline in the previous year.

Barclays said in a quarterly financial report this week that it is looking to cut 5,000 jobs, about 5% of its workforce, citing “organisational simplification and technology change efficiency driven by AI.” About 60% of the cuts are expected to come from support functions, including developers. The U.K. bank is among several companies shifting resources toward AI as they reduce or limit staffing.

Kroger said last week it will eliminate 3,000 corporate jobs over the next three years while expanding its use of AI. CEO Greg Foran said technology is changing how work gets done and that Kroger needs to adopt capabilities, reduce duplicate work and assess where tasks should be performed. Last month, the company outlined an AI strategy intended to improve customer experience, make work easier for associates and produce better business outcomes. Kroger has 409,000 employees and more than 2,700 stores under brands including Ralphs, King Soopers, Smith’s and Fred Meyer.

Meta plans to lay off about 8,000 workers, or about 10% of its workforce, while increasing spending on AI infrastructure and AI experts. In April, it said the cuts would support efficiency and investment elsewhere; Bloomberg reported that about 6,000 jobs would remain unfilled. Meta had told investors that 2026 expenses could reach $169 billion, driven by infrastructure and employee compensation, particularly for AI hires. Microsoft planned voluntary buyouts in early May for about 8,750 U.S. employees, or 7% of its U.S. workforce, according to two people familiar with the plan. Its data centers support cloud services, AI systems and products including Copilot.

Standard Chartered plans to cut more than 15% of its back-office employees by 2030. In May, it said it was expanding uses of automation, advanced analytics and AI to streamline processes, improve decisions and enhance client service and internal efficiency. Coinbase is cutting about 14% of its workforce partly because of AI, CEO Brian Armstrong said, citing engineers completing in days work that once took teams weeks, nontechnical staff shipping production code and automated workflows. He said the company aimed to become leaner and “AI-native.”

Pinterest announced in January that it planned to cut under 15% of its workforce in a restructuring that reallocates resources to AI-focused roles and prioritizes AI-powered products. Snap is eliminating about 16% of its global workforce, or about 1,000 jobs, and said in a filing that the move would redirect resources to priority initiatives. CEO Evan Spiegel said in April that another 300 open roles would remain unfilled. Block is laying off more than 4,000 of its 10,000-plus employees as it reorganizes around AI. Jack Dorsey said a smaller team using the company’s tools could do more and do it better. Block shares were up 19% this year, reversing a 12% decline in the previous year.