American Express job cuts will remove about 5% of the card company’s global workforce, roughly 3,500 roles, after executives said Friday the firm wants fewer layers before it automates internal work. Chief executive Stephen Squeri attached a $336 million restructuring charge on the third-quarter earnings call, even as adjusted profit beat estimates. Smaller firms and finance or HR teams should watch that sequence.
Key Takeaways
- About 3,500 jobs, or 5% of staff, go with a $336 million charge.
- Adjusted earnings of $4.68 a share beat estimates; revenue slightly missed.
- Full-year earnings guidance rose to $18.30â$18.60 a share.
- CFO says layers must shrink before Amex automates work with AI.
The company did not name departments or locations. The Independent reported this is the first major round in nearly a decade, meant to streamline operations while still investing in the business.
What the American Express Job Cuts Are Meant to Do
Chief financial officer Christophe Le Caillec told CNBC the restructuring was to make American Express “leaner, more agile, and also to prepare for AI.”
“You don’t want to automate processes that are not optimally structured,” Le Caillec said. “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 told analysts Amex had momentum but needed a more agile and efficient organization to win over the next few years, CNBC reported. Yahoo Finance said he also wants to reduce layers and speed up decision making. Staff figures in Friday’s coverage do not match: CNBC said Amex had almost 77,000 employees at the end of 2025, while Squeri told Bloomberg TV the company has 78,000, which that report said means about 3,500 jobs. The Independent likewise put the reduction at about 3,500 roles, or 5% of staff.
Profit Beat, Higher Outlook, Higher Costs
Adjusted earnings were $4.68 a share, ahead of the $4.48 LSEG estimate cited by CNBC and the $4.49 Bloomberg survey average. The Independent reported net income of $3.71 billion, up 28% from $2.9 billion a year earlier.
Revenue rose 9% to $20.06 billion, slightly below Wall Street’s $20.12 billion LSEG forecast. Executives attributed part of the spending drag to recent exits from small business co-brand partnerships, CNBC said.
Full-year earnings guidance rose to $18.30 to $18.60 a share, on an unadjusted basis, from $17.30 to $17.90. Le Caillec told CNBC that proceeds from the sale of Amex’s stake in Global Business Travel Group helped that metric, and that part of those proceeds went into the restructuring plan.
Expenses climbed about 9% to $14.5 billion, less than a $14.8 billion analyst estimate, Yahoo Finance reported, citing Bloomberg. Member-rewards costs were up 10%, and marketing expenses rose 11%. Le Caillec had previously said to expect marketing expenses to increase by around 10% in the second half of 2026 compared with last year.
Shares fell on the day: down 1.8% to $319.45 at 9:35 a.m. in New York, Bloomberg reported, extending this year’s drop to nearly 14%. CNBC cited a roughly 4% afternoon drop, and the New York Post said the close was down more than 3%.
Premium Perks Keep Climbing
The job plan is landing while Amex still spends to keep premium cardholders. Bloomberg reported a refresh that added new perks to the Platinum card last year, and a deal earlier this month with Airbnb so certain luxury rentals on Amex’s travel site count toward the annual lodging credit. Squeri said that fight has been highly competitive and that the company’s assumption is it will remain highly competitive.
AI Agent Access Stays Narrow
Squeri devoted about 10 minutes of his prepared remarks to AI, CNBC reported, focused mainly on personalizing experiences and offers for cardholders.
“We need to protect our customers [and] merchants, and we’re only going to allow agents to access our systems that are either approved through API or MCP channels,” he said. Amex is “not going to let assistants run rogue through our system.”
What the Wider Cuts Mean for Smaller Firms
Barclays on Thursday confirmed plans to trim 5,000 jobs, also roughly 5% of staff. Group chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan said, in BBC remarks quoted by The Independent, “But AI is the icing on the cake, not the cake. Because you need to do the infrastructure build to get the benefits of AI.”
| Firm | Planned cuts | Scope in reports |
|---|---|---|
| American Express | About 3,500 jobs, about 5%; $336 million charge | First major round in nearly a decade; teams not named |
| Barclays | 5,000 jobs, about 5% | By year-end; about 60% in support functions, including developers |
| Citigroup | Around 20,000 jobs, about 10% | Earlier this year |
| HSBC | Around 20,000 roles under consideration | Multiyear plan being considered; UK wealth cuts also reported |
| Standard Chartered | Around 7,800 jobs, 15% | By 2030 |
The New York Post, citing Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said AI has been cited in more than 120,000 job cut announcements so far this year through September. The Independent, citing a June New York Times report, said economists are increasingly concerned about customer service, bookkeeping, payroll, and HR. Many of those jobs offer middle-class wages without requiring a college degree and are disproportionately held by women.
Analysis for finance and HR leads: the useful part is the order Le Caillec described, fewer layers and wider spans of control first, automation after. Smaller teams can apply that test to bookkeeping, payroll, and HR workflows.
- Do not automate a process that is not already well structured.
- Restrict agents to approved API or MCP channels.
- Read rising rewards, marketing, and card perks separately from the layoff charge.
- Track small business co-brand exits cited in Amex’s spending drag.
