UK banking giant HSBC is planning to cut about half of its wealth management specialist positions and reduce the number of financial advisors by 70% as the firm replaces humans with AI.

According to reporting from the Financial Times, HSBC is replacing a large portion of its wealth management business with AI.

The report describes the layoffs s as “deep, wide, and burtal.”

“HSBC UK is a long-established, leading UK wealth manager and premium banking provider,” said HSBC in a statement.

“We’re continuing to evolve to deliver more digitally enabled products and journeys to support our best-in-class wealth service and meet the changing needs of our customers.”

HSBC has been one of the keenest banks in the UK when it comes to AI adoption – it ranked 11th globally in a banking sector AI adoption tracker, beating out other UK banks.

The firm – like other banks – appointed an chief AI officer, and also launched an AI centre of excellence in Singapore, aiming to improve its pool of AI talent.

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HSBC is not the only UK bank making strides when it comes to AI, though reactions and job shifts look very different depending on the firm.

Lloyds Banking Group for instance is adding 300 new roles focussed on agentic AI while it bolsters the skills of its current staff.

While HSBC opts for layoffs, it remains to be seen if this will pay off for the bank as the financial sector is one of the most reliant on personal trust.