Singapore’s biggest bank, DBS, plans to reduce around 4,000 jobs over the next three years as artificial intelligence (AI) takes over tasks that humans currently do.
A DBS spokesperson told the BBC that these job cuts will happen naturally as temporary and contract jobs come to an end. However, permanent employees will not be affected.
The bank’s outgoing CEO, Piyush Gupta, also mentioned that DBS will create about 1,000 new jobs related to AI. This makes DBS one of the first major banks to explain how AI will change its workforce.
The bank did not specify how many jobs would be cut in Singapore or which positions would be affected. Currently, DBS has between 8,000 and 9,000 temporary and contract workers, out of a total workforce of around 41,000 people.
Last year, Mr. Gupta said that DBS has been working with AI for over ten years. The bank now uses more than 800 AI models for 350 different tasks and expects these to generate over S$1 billion ($745 million) in economic value by 2025.
Mr. Gupta will step down as CEO at the end of March, and the current deputy CEO, Tan Su Shan, will take his place.
AI is changing many industries, and experts have different opinions about its impact on jobs. In 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that AI could affect nearly 40% of jobs worldwide. Its managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, warned that AI might increase inequality.
However, Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, told the BBC that AI will not cause mass job losses. He believes people will learn to work alongside new technologies, and while AI has risks, it also has great potential.
