Barclays to Move 50+ London Ads Jobs to India, Uses AI; £2B Cost-Cutting Target

Barclays is moving up to 50 London-based advertising roles to India by August 31, 2026, as part of an AI-integrated offshoring and cost-cutting drive. CEO CS Venkatakrishnan is targeting a £2 billion reduction in total costs, including cutting the nearly 20-person copywriting team in Canary Wharf. Staff will be relocated to India, where a larger team will leverage AI to support public-facing content creation. Around 50 employees were informed of the changes at a July meeting. The bank has already cut 200 investment bankers in June 2024 and acquired Tesco Bank for £600 million in November 2024. A spokesman clarified the copywriting roles are being relocated, not replaced by AI.