Standard Chartered cut technologists, now wants Gen Z for hybrid jobs

Standard Chartered's results for the first half of 2024 were stronger than expected, but that hasn't stopped the British bank looking for ways to cut costs. The bank's headcount fell in that period; technologists there are having a hard time, but Standard Chartered is still interested in hiring the new generation. 

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Headcount at Standard Chartered fell by over 1,500, with the bulk of departures coming from its 'Support Services' division. People losing their jobs in this category work in "technology and operations support resources." CEO Bill Winters previously said roles in those two divisions will "go away" as a result of technological advancements and automation.

Having dispensed with people, Standard Chartered now wants "digital natives." It says that millennials and Gen Z in particular "possess the attributes needed to pursue [its] strategy," and that these groups are becoming an increasingly larger proportion of the talent market. 

Winters says the bank will provide existing tech and operations staff an opportunity to upskill or reskill, but headcount suggests not all staff have taken such an offer. Technologists within the corporate and investment bank have also been asked to complete HackerRank style coding tests to benchmark their skills, stirring greater fears over a lack of job security.

The bank has been shifting its culture to align more with the Gen Z way of working. We noticed in February that around 65% of Standard Chartered employees had flexible working arrangements, generally consisting of three or two days in the office; the recent results state that "more than 70%" of the workforce have signed up to work flexibly.

Standard Chartered was also considering restructuring its institutional banking arm, but strong performances have waylaid those notions. Its global banking team saw income rise 12% year-on-year, but the global markets team was more mixed; credit trading income rose 40% while macro trading - the significantly larger of the two, saw income fall by 3%.

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