Europe’s banking sector is about to learn a hard lesson in efficiency. More than 200,000 European banking jobs could disappear by 2030 as lenders turn to AI and close physical branches, according to new analysis from Morgan Stanley reported in the Financial Times. This represents about 10% of the employees at 35 major banks.
Bloodletting will hit the grunt parts of banking the hardest, such as back-office operations, risk management, and compliance, but algorithms are thought to be able to break through spreadsheets faster and more efficiently than humans. Banks are salivating at the prospect of 30% efficiency gains, according to a report from Morgan Stanley.
Downsizing is not limited to Europe. Goldman Sachs warned U.S. employees in October of layoffs and a hiring freeze through the end of 2025 as part of an AI push called OneGS 3.0 that targets everything from client onboarding to regulatory reporting.
Some institutions have already started swinging the axe. Dutch lender ABN Amro plans to cut a fifth of its workforce by 2028, with Société Générale’s chief executive declaring “nothing is sacred”. Still, some European banking leaders are sounding cautious, with a JPMorgan Chase executive telling the FT that it could come back to haunt the industry if young bankers don’t learn the basics.
