By Jayujyoti Mullick
HSBC plans to cut-off 10% of its total workforce in the coming years, according to Reuters. The global banking giant employed 208,720 full-time employees, as reported in its year-end report of December 2025.
The job cut-off will affect approximately 20,000 roles worldwide, according to Bloomberg, citing people knowledgeable of the issue. The report suggested that back-end jobs with non-client-facing roles are expected to be highly impacted. The assessment is currently at an early stage, and no final decision has been taken yet, says the report. However, no official spokesperson commented on the report.
The increase in artificial intelligence adaptation is empowering companies to cut-off staffs in departments mostly vulnerable to automation and analysis. The initial downsizing is a part of a medium-term plan spanning three to five years. This could include not removing departing staff. Furthermore, cutting ties to business exits or sales, the report said.
READ: AI may replace white-collar jobs, Andrej Karpathy says in deleted viral post (March 17, 2026)
The estimation regarding the job cut-off comes after the London-based bank focuses on simplifying its operations, cutting costs and existing businesses that are not considered value-adding.
The layoff report surfaced just after a viral research by AI researcher Andrej Karpathy. The survey proved AI might be a threat to many white-collar jobs globally. The survey placed 342 different working professions on a scorecard. The scorecard verified that several digital and high-skilled professional jobs, including software developers, financial analysts, writers, editors and graphic designers, could face significant disorder due to the ongoing advancement of artificial intelligence capabilities.
Some major layoffs are reported to have happened in major firms in 2026
- Atlassian Corp. reports cutting 1,600 jobs, resulting 10% of its global workforce, due to a shift in dependency on Artificial Intelligence
Software titan Atlassian has announced of laying off about 10% of its workforce. The cut-off of roughly 1,600 positions includes the replacement of its chief technology officer, resulting in restructures in further investments in artificial intelligence. The layoffs are projected to affect 640 employees in North America, 480 in Australia and 250 in India, with the others from Japan, the Philippines, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
- Meta looks forward to laying off 16,000 Workers, leveraging AI and cost-cutting
Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg, is about to layoff 20% of its workforce. Shifting its focus to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets and assemble for better effectiveness brought about by AI-assisted workers. However, Reuters reported that there has been no confirmation on the deadline and numbers from official sources.
READ: White House doubles down on firing of Labor Statistics head (
- Panasonic Holdings (HD) added 2000 more employees in addition to the previously announced 10,000 layoffs in May 2025. Citing applications of volunteering retirement in Japan and other countries, Panasonic added 2000 employees to the cutting list. The cost of restructuring, including severance pay, will increase to 180 billion yen from the 150 billion yen forecast in October last year.
- Walgreens is on the verge of laying off Workers as Store Closures Loom.
According to a report by Healthcare Finance News, Walgreens might announce the elimination of 159 jobs in the Houston area beginning June 1. This layoff cites the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice filed with the state of Texas. The pharmacy and retail chain is laying off hundreds of employees in Texas and Illinois. After months of being acquired by a private equity firm, Sycamore Partners, the company also has plans for additional store closures in 2026. Additionally, in Illinois, the company’s home state, the company is downsizing by 469 employees, bringing the total number of layoffs to more than 600.