Winters expresses regret for his choice of words describing how AI would replace some workers at the lender
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenEnoch YiuPublished: 7:09pm, 22 May 2026Standard Chartered global CEO Bill Winters on Friday said he was “sorry” for comments describing “lower-value” workers, made while announcing job-cut plans earlier this week.Winters apologised in a LinkedIn post as he tried to cool debate among upset employees after he announced on Tuesday a 15 per cent cut of back-office staff at the lender by 2030. Winters said that AI adoption would replace some “lower-value human capital”.The CEO first made a LinkedIn post explaining his comments from earlier this week, before then posting for a second time, apologising for his Tuesday remarks.
“I have received a lot of support for the messages in my previous post,” wrote Winters in his second LinkedIn post on Friday. “But still get questions about my choice of words, which I know has caused upset to some colleagues.”
“I think the transcript makes it clear that I value our colleagues – all of them – most highly and that we are totally committed to helping them to cope with the accelerating pace of change in our industry,” he said.
