He confirmed a Press Trust of India news agency report, which said the bank will trim its workforce following further adoption of AI across its business.
Permanent staff will not be affected, the outgoing CEO said. DBS, based in Singapore, has around 41,000 staff and Tan Su Shan, currently deputy CEO, will succeed Gupta on March 28.
A DBS spokesperson also added: “The reduction in workforce will come from natural attrition as temp and contract roles roll off over the next few years.”
Global banks will cut as many as 200,000 jobs in the next three to five years as artificial intelligence encroaches on tasks currently carried out by human workers, said a Bloomberg Intelligence report last month.
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Chief information and technology officers surveyed for BI indicated that on average they expect a net 3% of their workforce to be cut, according to the report.
Still, many firms have stressed that the shift will result in roles being changed by technology, rather than replaced altogether.
Teresa Heitsenrether, who oversees JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s AI efforts, said in November that the bank’s adoption of generative AI was so far augmenting jobs.
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Update
DBS has issued a statement on Feb 25 stating that AI could reduce the need to renew the 4,000 temporary and, or contract staff across its 19 markets over the next three years. The people who may be potentially affected are working on specific projects, the bank's spokesperson notes.
“As such, we expect the reduction in workforce will come from natural attrition as these temporary and contract roles are completed over the next few years," the spokesperson adds. "We will continue to invest in upskilling and reskilling our employees to enable them to be future ready. We have identified around 13,000 staff for upskilling or reskilling and to date, over 10,000 have commenced their respective learning roadmaps, including on skills such as AI and data.”
- with additional reporting by The Edge Singapore
