Nordea Bank to cut 1,500 jobs as artificial intelligence drives €150 million cost savings

Nordea to Cut Up to 5% of Staff as AI Seen Bringing Cost Savings

Nordea Bank Abp is putting as many as 1,500 jobs at risk as it expects artificial intelligence to make processes more efficient and cut costs. The reduction of as much as 5% of the workforce through next year is part of a structural efficiency improvement, the Helsinki-based bank said in a statementBloomberg Terminal Tuesday. The move supports Nordea's 2030 strategy, which is centered on technology, data and artificial intelligence. Nordea will book restructuring costs of about €190 million ($219 million) in the first quarter, it said. Cost savings will amount to at least €150 million from 2028, Nordea said. Nordea is the latest bank to shed staff in favor of AI models, joining global peers such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc., ING Groep NV and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Worldwide, lenders will cut as many as 200,000 jobs in the next three to five years as artificial intelligence encroaches on tasks currently carried out by human workers, analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence estimated last year. Chief information and technology officers surveyed for BI indicated that on average they expect 3% of their workforce to be cut, according to the report. At Nordea, some of the affected employees will be offered other roles internally, the bank said. The changes will be subject to relevant union negotiation and consultations and Nordea plans to support employees with learning new skills.

Nordea to cut 1500 jobs as AI brings cost savings

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community. The Helsinki-based bank in November said it was targeting cost savings of at least $600 million by 2030 by using technology, data and artificial intelligence to help it become more profitable. Dubbed Nordic scale, the strategy will result in restructuring costs of about €190 million euros in the first quarter of 2026. "The restructuring costs relate primarily to changes in the workforce composition and include skill shifts leading to a reduction in the number of employees," Nordea said in a statement. "With Nordic scale, the impact of AI and process optimisation, Nordea expects to have fewer employees in the future than today." It added that approximately 1,500 employees would be impacted in 2026 and 2027. The company had roughly 29,000 employees at the end of 2025.