DBS
Singapore's largest bank DBS to reduce 4,000 jobs amid AI implementation
DBS, Singapore's biggest bank, is expected to reduce about 4,000 roles in the next three years.
The move is driven by the increasing adaptation of Artificial Intelligence technologies in multiple sectors, including banking, to replace roles that humans handle.
According to a bank's spokesperson, the job cut will hit temporary and contractual workers.
“The reduction in workforce will come from natural attrition as temporary and contract roles roll off over the next few years,” a DBS spokesperson said in response to queries from The Straits Times.
However, the spokesperson did not clarify how many Singaporean staff members will be affected.
The bank's outgoing chief executive Piyush Gupta also said it expected to create around 1,000 new AI-related jobs, reported BBC.
The move will make DBS one of the first major banking institutions to offer details on how it will implement AI in its operations.
DBS bank currently employs between 8,000 and 9,000 temporary and contract workers, media reports said.
The bank employs 41,000 staff overall.
IMF's observation on AI impact
In its report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year said the rapid proliferation of AI technology is expected to hit nearly 40% of all jobs worldwide.
"AI will affect almost 40 percent of jobs around the world, replacing some and complementing others. We need a careful balance of policies to tap its potential," IMF's managing director Kristalina Georgieva said in a blog post.
"In advanced economies, about 60 percent of jobs may be impacted by AI," the blog post said.
Last year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for global cooperation in sharing the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI), warning that unequal access could exacerbate global inequalities.
“AI capacities today are concentrated in a handful of powerful companies – and even fewer countries. Meanwhile, too many countries face significant challenges in accessing AI tools,” António Guterres told a forum on artificial intelligence capacity building, in Shanghai, China.
Bridging that gap is all the more important given AI’s potential for sustainable development. With many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets off track, artificial intelligence can help rescue the development agenda.
“To truly harness AI’s potential, we need international cooperation – and solidarity,” Guterres added.
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