Amex to cut 5% of staff and trim management layers
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American Express is eliminating about 5% of its global workforce and taking a $336 million restructuring charge, chief executive Stephen Squeri told analysts on the company's third-quarter earnings call on Friday. The card issuer had almost 77,000 employees at the end of 2025.
Chief financial officer Christophe Le Caillec told CNBC the restructuring is meant to make American Express "leaner, more agile, and also to prepare for AI." He described the method this way: "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."
Squeri said the charge was meant to improve efficiency. "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 said.
Results announced alongside the cuts
The quarterly results topped Wall Street profit expectations. Adjusted earnings per share came to $4.68, against an average analyst estimate of $4.48 from LSEG. The company raised its full-year earnings guidance to a range of $18.30 to $18.60 per share on an unadjusted basis, up from $17.30 to $17.90.
Part of that earnings figure came from the sale of Amex's stake in Global Business Travel Group, and Le Caillec said part of the proceeds went into the restructuring plan. Total revenue rose 9% to $20.06 billion, just under the $20.12 billion Wall Street forecast. Executives pointed to recent exits from small business co-brand partnerships as part of the spending drag. Shares fell roughly 4% in afternoon trading.
Squeri spent a 10-minute section of his prepared remarks on AI, mostly on personalizing experiences and offers for cardholders. He also said Amex is "not going to let assistants run rogue through our system": outside agents will be allowed in only if they are approved through API or MCP channels.
The day before, Barclays confirmed plans to trim 5,000 jobs, also roughly 5% of its staff, in a technology-driven cost program.
Source: CNBC