American Express Cuts 5% of Jobs to Make Room for AI
Amex is eliminating thousands of jobs to become 'leaner' and prepare for AI, joining a wider trend among big banks.
American Express, one of the world's biggest credit card companies, is cutting about 5% of its workforce — thousands of jobs — as it prepares to let artificial intelligence (AI) handle more of its internal work.
The company had nearly 77,000 employees at the end of 2025. To carry out these changes, Amex is taking a $336 million restructuring charge (a one-time cost a company records when it reorganizes, such as paying for layoffs).
The company's Chief Financial Officer (the top money executive) said the goal is to make Amex "leaner, more agile, and also to prepare for AI." In simple terms, the company wants to simplify how it works before handing repetitive tasks over to automated computer systems.
Amex is not alone. This is part of a bigger trend in the financial world:
- Just one day earlier, UK bank Barclays confirmed plans to cut 5,000 jobs — also about 5% of its staff.
- These cuts are happening even though banks are making strong profits from rising consumer spending.
- Adjusted earnings per share (company profit divided by number of shares): $4.68, beating the expected $4.48.
- Total revenue (all money the company brought in): up 9% to $20.06 billion, slightly below the $20.12 billion forecast.
- Amex raised its full-year profit forecast to $18.30–$18.60 per share, up from its earlier estimate.
Despite the good results, Amex shares fell about 3% in morning trading, as revenue came in just below what Wall Street analysts expected.
In short, American Express is reshaping itself for an AI-driven future — cutting jobs now to automate more work later, while still posting strong profits.
This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/23/american-express-job-cuts.html