“It’s not cost-cutting. It’s replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital we’re putting in.”
Context
Bill Winters, chief executive of Standard Chartered, has apologised after referring to some roles being replaced by artificial intelligence as “lower-value human capital”.
The London-headquartered banking group plans to cut about 7,800 back-office roles, mainly in response to artificial intelligence.
The comment drew criticism because it appeared to describe workers through the language of capital allocation at a time when many employees are worried about how automation may affect their jobs.
Meaning
Winters’ comment suggests how easily workforce transformation can be framed in financial terms that sound detached from the people affected by restructuring.
It also shows the risk for employers when leaders discuss artificial intelligence as a substitution of one form of capital for another, rather than as a change that affects livelihoods, careers and trust.
Implications
The episode raises questions for HR leaders about how organisations communicate job cuts linked to artificial intelligence.
Employers may need to be clearer, more careful and more human in explaining automation plans, especially where roles are being removed or redesigned. Better language will not remove the impact of redundancies, but poor language can deepen distrust and make change harder to manage.
William Furney is a Managing Editor at Black and White Trading Ltd based in Kingston upon Hull, UK. He is a prolific author and contributor at Workplace Wellbeing Professional, with over 127 published posts covering HR, employee engagement, and workplace wellbeing topics. His writing focuses on contemporary employment issues including pension schemes, employee health, financial struggles affecting workers, and broader workplace trends.
- William Furney
- William Furney
- William Furney
- William Furney
