Bill Winters' apology for 'lower-value human' remarks not enough for unions

By Frances Schwartzkopff

 

Bill Winters’ efforts to restore calm after making some controversial comments on AI have failed to reassure labor organizations, according to one of the world’s largest union federations. 

 

The chief executive of Standard Chartered Plc has spent much of the week doing damage control, after he aired plans to replace some “lower-value human capital” with artificial intelligence. Winters has since apologized for his choice of words, while adding that the phrase was taken out of a wider, more nuanced context.

 

As CEO of StanChart, however, Winters “should remember that we are talking about thousands of people and families, not human capital,” said Angelo Di Cristo, head of finance at UNI Global Union. Winters’ apology, posted on LinkedIn, doesn’t change the impression left by the original comments, he added. 

 

 

Di Cristo also pointed to remarks made by Georges Elhedery, the CEO of HSBC Holdings Plc, as examples of language that has left finance workers feeling anxious about their future. Elhedery said this week he expects AI to “destroy” certain jobs, even as it creates new roles. Both HSBC and StanChart are weighing major headcount reductions to make room for AI.

 

“Unfortunately, the plans by these multinational banks to slash jobs are not just about introducing AI tools, but a new chapter in the same old story of banks cutting labor costs wherever they can,” which results in “dedicated employees being treated as disposable,” he said. 

 

The UNI Global Union will “stand with these workers” and the local unions that represent them, “who will demand a fair deal,” Di Cristo said.

 

UNI Global Union is perhaps best known for coordinating an international campaign against Group 4 Securicor in the 2000s, in which it mobilized workers, investors and public opinion. Those efforts led to an agreement in 2008 to respect workers’ rights and raise employment standards.

 

A spokesperson for StanChart said the bank is “combining the best human talent with AI,” as part of a plan to provide “future ready skills” to employees who remain at the bank, as well as for those for whom “this is not possible.” The bank intends to “support our people through this continuous transformation with care and respect.” 

 

The bank said on Tuesday it would cut corporate functions roles by more than 15% by 2030 and scale practical uses of AI to streamline processes. “It’s not cost cutting; it’s replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital we’re putting in,” Winters said at the time. Affected staff would receive “good clear notice” ahead of time, he also said.

 

A spokesperson for HSBC said that AI will “reshape the world of work, transforming existing roles and creating entirely new roles that we’ve only begun to imagine.” The bank wants staff “to be ready for this transformation” and is “providing tools and training so they can benefit from the opportunities it brings.”

 

Finance unions had sought to preempt AI’s disruptions to jobs in the sector. Two years ago, the three biggest bank trade groups in Europe signed a joint declaration to work with the bloc’s main union, in order to ensure staff get the requisite training to prevent AI leading to mass layoffs.

 

Since then, however, banks have proceeded to adopt AI with “limited to no trade-union involvement,” the European arm of UNI said last month. With AI rapidly reshaping the finance sector, trade unions have drawn up specific demands that includes reskilling employees.

 

Union representatives say they’re looking for a more balanced approach from bank CEOs.

 

In France, home to the European Union’s two largest banks by assets, the hope is that “for every job lost, a new one will be created,” said Mathieu Arlandis, a member of the BNP Paribas European Works Council. He acknowledges that goal may be tough to achieve, which is why governments and the private sector “must act now to organize training and retraining,” he said.

 

In an interview in Shanghai this week, JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon said he thinks AI will reduce jobs “down the road,” but said he expects it will also create “different types of jobs.”

 

The upshot, he said, is that “we will be hiring more AI people and fewer bankers in certain categories, and it will make them more productive,” Dimon said.

 

Concerns about AI’s impact on Wall Street jobs led the New York City Comptroller Mark Levine to comment on the potential ramifications for the metropole’s finances. In a report published on Thursday, he said AI raises the need for “developing contingency plans to prepare for disruptions to the job market and revenue losses.” 

 

In much smaller economies with well-established security nets, tensions are also high. Dorrit Brandt, chair of the Danish union for financial workers, Finansforbundet, warns that some bank CEOs are eliminating jobs faster than the technology is cutting work loads. It’s too early to be telling bank employees that “your job is gone tomorrow,” she said. “Because it’s not.”

 

And European banking regulators are also warning the industry to tread with caution. Banks must ensure they have enough humans who monitor and understand the results that AI spits out, said Ruta Merkeviciute, head of digital finance at the European Banking Authority. 

 

Di Cristo of UNI Global Union says he wants banks to remember that their strength today is built on the efforts of many of the employees they’re now considering firing.

 

“We know banks can successfully incorporate AI tools,” he said. But they need to do so “while respecting the dignity and humanity of the workers who have contributed to their success.”