As Artificial Intelligence (AI) currently works more about the work done by humans, the largest bank in Singapore says it expects to cut 4,000 jobs in the next three years. A DBS spokesperson told the Experssepaper,
“The reduction in the workforce will come from natural attrition as temporary and contract roles stop in the next few years.”
The deduction is unlikely to have any effect on permanent employees.
The bank’s outgoing chief executive, Piyush Gupta, also said that it expects to build around 1,000 new AI-related jobs.
This makes DBS one of the first major banks that AI will affect its operation to give details.
The company did not say how many jobs will be cut in Singapore or which roles will be affected.
Currently, DBS provides employment for between 8,000 and 9,000 contracts and temporary workers. The bank employs a total of 41,000 people.
Mr Gupta said last year that DBS had been working on AI for more than a decade. He said, “We today deploy more than 800 AI models in 350 use cases and expect a measured economic impact of more than S $ 1bn ($745M; £592M) in 2025.”
Mr Gupta is ready to leave the firm at the end of March. The current Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Tan Su Shaan, will replace him.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that AI technology will affect about 40% of all jobs worldwide by 2024 due to its growing popularity and potential threats. According to IMF Managing Director Crystalina Jorvaniwa,
“In most of the scenarios, AI is likely to have overall inequality.” Last year, Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey told the Experssepaper that AI would not be a “mass distractor for jobs,
“and human workers will learn to work with new techniques.
“There is a lot of possibility with this,
” Mr Bailey said, “despite the risks with AI.” Sin