As of 7:35 AM IST, Saturday 24 October 2026. Figures come from American Express's third-quarter earnings call on 23 October and from reporting by CNBC, Reuters and Payments Dive. Where these sources differ, both versions are given.
American Express is cutting about 3,500 jobs, roughly 5% of its global workforce, and booked a $336 million restructuring charge in the third quarter. The cuts come in a quarter when profit beat forecasts and full-year guidance went up. The company's chief financial officer told CNBC the goal is to make Amex "leaner, more agile, and also to prepare for AI". A day earlier, Barclays confirmed about 5,000 job cuts. Together, the two announcements show that profitable financial firms are now reshaping their workforces around AI automation, not just cutting costs in bad times.
What Amex announced
CEO Stephen Squeri disclosed the cuts on Friday's earnings call (the call was on 23 October; CNBC's report went up at 9:25 AM EDT, 6:55 PM IST). "We've got good momentum, but to accelerate innovation and win over the next few years, we needed to become [a] more agile and efficient organization," he told analysts.
CFO Christophe Le Caillec explained the logic to CNBC: "You don't want to automate processes that are not optimally structured. So what we're doing here is to reduce layers and increase spans of controls, so that we can automate and take advantage of AI in the coming quarters and the coming years."
How big is the cut?
Reports describe the size slightly differently:
- Reuters and CNBC say about 5% of the global workforce. Reuters puts it at about 3,500 jobs.
- Payments Dive quotes an Amex spokesperson as saying about 3,500 of roughly 78,000 employees, which is nearer 4.5%. The company's annual report listed 76,800 staff at the end of 2025.
Amex has not said publicly which countries, functions or levels will be hit, or when. A spokesperson declined to give more detail, according to Payments Dive.
The quarter behind the cuts
| Metric (Q3 2026) | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| Adjusted EPS | $4.68 vs about $4.48 expected (LSEG) |
| Revenue | About $20.06 billion, up 9%; slightly below the roughly $20.12 billion LSEG estimate |
| Net income | About $3.71 billion, up 28% (Payments Dive) |
| Billed business | $454 billion, up 8% FX-adjusted |
| Expenses | $14.5 billion, up 9%; marketing up 11% |
| Restructuring charge | $336 million |
Two other items affected the quarter, according to Payments Dive: a gain from selling Amex's stake in its business-travel arm (CNBC identifies it as Global Business Travel Group) and a $350 million penalty to settle an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency enforcement action over alleged anti-money-laundering failures. Le Caillec told CNBC that part of the sale proceeds went towards funding the restructuring.
The guidance raise
CNBC reported that Amex raised its full-year EPS guidance, on an unadjusted basis, to $18.30–$18.60, up from $17.30–$17.90. Reuters reported an adjusted range of $17.60–$17.90, with the midpoint above analysts' estimate of $17.63. The two ranges appear to use different bases (GAAP vs adjusted), and the GAAP figure includes the one-off gain. Check the company's earnings release for the exact definitions.
The shares still fell. CNBC said they were down about 4% in afternoon trading on Friday. Reuters noted the stock was already down about 12% this year and had lagged the S&P 500, with investors watching expense growth closely.
Why a profitable company is cutting jobs
1. "Re-org first, automate second"
Le Caillec's argument is that AI works better on clean, flat processes. Removing management layers now makes it easier to automate later. It is the same "flatter, leaner, AI-ready" approach HorizonDesk described in our analysis of HubSpot's 660 job cuts.
2. Rising competition
Payments Dive notes pressure from big card-issuing banks such as JPMorgan Chase, from the Visa and Mastercard networks in premium cards, and from fintechs Brex (now owned by Capital One) and Ramp in corporate spending. Squeri said those rivals "unlocked" automation and expense management, and promised to bring "more agents" into Amex's commercial platform.
3. A sector-wide shift
CNBC reported that Barclays confirmed on Thursday it would cut about 5,000 jobs, also roughly 5% of its staff, in a technology-driven cost programme. Reuters said several financial firms have cited AI efficiency gains in job cuts this year. Indian lenders are under pressure on costs too; see our round-up of Q2 FY27 bank results.
Amex's rules for AI agents
Squeri spent about 10 minutes of his prepared remarks on AI, mostly on personalising offers and services for cardholders, according to CNBC. He also drew a line on outside AI agents: Amex is "not going to let assistants run rogue through our system" and will only let in agents "approved through API or MCP channels". MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is an emerging standard for connecting AI agents to outside software. Payments Dive reported that Squeri also talked about personalising Resy restaurant bookings and using ChatGPT to tailor pitches for Amex's dining and travel services.
Spending is still strong
The cuts are not a sign that customers are in trouble. Reuters reported travel and entertainment spending up 10%, with airline spending up 13% (partly because fuel costs have pushed up fares) and restaurant spending up 9%. "Spending is holding up at the top end and there's no sign of stress in this base," Aptus Capital Advisors' David Wagner told Reuters.
What it means for workers
- Middle management is the first target. Amex's own explanation, "reduce layers and increase spans of control", points to managers and coordinators rather than front-line roles, at least in this round. The company has not confirmed the breakdown.
- Good results no longer protect jobs. Amex cut staff in a quarter where it beat profit forecasts and raised guidance.
- More announcements are likely. With Amex and Barclays both at about 5%, other banks and card firms may announce similar programmes. That is a reasonable expectation, not a confirmed trend.
Some investors worry the AI spending boom itself may be overheating. Our explainer Is AI a bubble? looks at the warning signs.
What is still unclear
- Which locations and teams are affected, and the timeline for the cuts.
- How much Amex expects to save each year. No figure was reported in the coverage HorizonDesk reviewed.
- Whether the exact share is 4.5% or 5%. That depends on which headcount figure is used.
