Good morning. An AI-fueled takeover of finance jobs doesn’t appear imminent, experts say.
My Fortune colleague Emma Burleigh takes a deep dive into this topic in her new report, “Is AI really killing finance and banking jobs? Experts say Wall Street’s layoffs may be more hype than takeover—for now.” For example, despite Wall Street’s headline-grabbing layoffs this year, overall headcount across banking and finance has remained relatively stable.
“I think the general [headcount] trend in the banking industry over the last decade is stable to slightly declining,” Pim Hilbers, a managing director working with banking and talent at BCG, told Burleigh. “I don’t see that changing anytime soon. That doesn’t mean that everybody just stays in their job for life. I think we see a lot more mobility than we saw in the past.”
Burleigh writes about the banking sector: “So far, America’s largest financial institutions haven’t been making deep workforce cuts. Bank of America employed just four fewer workers at the end of the third quarter this year, compared to 2024. In that same time period, JPMorgan saw its headcount climb by 2,000 employees, and more than a third of the new staffers were brought onto corporate operations. Even Goldman Sachs, which implemented multiple rounds of layoffs this year, employed 48,300 this September—around 1,800 staffers higher than the year before.
“Banks aren’t ready to shed staffers just yet; experts tell Fortune they’re pulling back on headcount growth for as long as possible, leaning on AI efficiency gains until they’re forced to add more humans to payroll. They predict this sluggish period of hiring could last for years.” Although AI isn’t replacing bankers just yet, there could be trouble on the horizon for marketers and accountants. You can read the complete report here.
Regarding banking, AI is also reshaping competitive advantage, a recent BCG report finds. Predictive, generative, and agentic AI are redefining the foundations of scale, efficiency, and customer experience. Banks must anchor AI strategy in business strategy. And “winning institutions” focus on where AI will deliver real returns, not just on deploying more technology, according to BCG.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
