Standard Chartered global CEO Bill Winters apologises for comments that drew criticism from employees after he discussed upcoming workforce changes. In a LinkedIn post on Friday, he acknowledges that his “choice of words” caused upset among some colleagues and says he is “sorry.” The remarks were made earlier this week when Winters outlined plans related to job cuts, including reducing back-office staff by about 15% by 2030.
According to multiple reports, Winters’ earlier comments suggested that AI adoption would replace parts of what he referred to as “lower-value human capital.” In his apology, he says the bank values “all” employees, aiming to clarify that his intention was not to diminish the worth of any worker. The apology is presented as an effort to cool internal debate following the reaction to the original post tied to the bank’s restructuring and AI-related changes.
