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The bank said the move comes as part of a push to improve productivity, lift returns, and invest in faster-growing areas including wealth management and corporate banking.
Standard Chartered has announced plans to reduce corporate functions roles by more than 15% by 2030, as it seeks to streamline the business and improve productivity while investing in areas it sees as long-term growth opportunities.
According to the bank's media release on 19 May (Tuesday), the workforce changes form part of a broader plan to create a "simpler, faster, and more connected operating model", in the hopes that productivity improvements would also be supported by greater use of automation, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to streamline processes, improve decision-making and enhance client service.
In response to HRO's queries on the affected roles in APAC, a Standard Chartered spokesperson said the bank will not be providing guidance at a market level. They added: "We are redesigning how work gets done to support our next phase of growth."
The reduction in corporate function roles was said to be "somewhat mitigated by an uplift in client-facing activity."
According to the spokesperson, the bank expect revenue per employee to rise by about 20%, adding that "therefore growth in the business will also further offset likely reductions."
Finally, they said: "We are also scaling automation, analytics and AI to improve how we serve clients and operate, while investing in new skills and capabilities – we will reskill where we can but not everyone will be."
In its update, the bank shared that it had reached its 2026 medium-term financial targets a year ahead of schedule and is now setting new goals for the coming years. On top of its planned to reduce headcount in the coming years, new medium-term targets have been set in place:
- Deliver a >15% return of tangible equity (RoTE) in 2028, a more than 3 percentage point uplift from 2025, and building to ~18% in 2030.
- Produce a high-teens earnings per share compound annual growth rate (EPS CAGR) and 5-7% income CAGR from 2025-2028.
- Generate a cost-to-income ratio* of ~57% in 2028, down from 63% in 2025, aided by positive income-to-cost jaws.
- Operate within a Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio range of 13-14% with a loan loss ratio of 30-35 basis points (bps) through-the-cycle.
- Support a dividend payout ratio of 30% or more, with a progressive dividend per share.
READ MORE: Cisco announces restructuring plans, fewer than 4,000 employees to be affected globally
Lead image / Standard Chartered
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