A CEO of a multinational bank made remarks about firing thousands of workers and replacing “lower-value human capital” with AI. The comments were tied to workforce reduction targets of about 15 percent by 2030, roughly 8,000 jobs. After backlash, the CEO sent an internal memo to employees addressing media coverage about automation, AI, and workforce changes. The memo claimed that roles falling away reflect changes in work rather than the value of employees. The CEO also insisted the effort was not cost cutting, framing it as replacing lower-value human capital with financial and investment capital. Online reactions criticized the language and questioned what stage of capitalism it represented.
"“Many of you will have seen media coverage following the investor event in Hong Kong, particularly the reporting around automation, AI, and workforce changes,” Winters said in the memo, per The Wall Street Journal. “I know this may be unsettling when reduced to simple headlines or a quote out of context.”"
"“Where roles do fall away, it reflects changes in the work, not the value of our people,” he added, unconvincingly."
"“It’s not cost cutting,” Winters said. “It’s replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital we’re putting in.”"
"“It’s not cost cutting,” Winters said. “It’s replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital we’re putting in.” Unfortunately for Winters, he would be receiving no kudos for inventing what is perhaps the most strained and misanthropic euphemism - or dysphemism , perhaps - for describing an employee in (lower-value) human (capital) history."
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