Bloomberg reports that Vikram Pandit, who ran Citigroup Inc. during the financial crisis, says developments in technology could see some 30% of banking jobs disappearing in the next five years.  

He is now CEO of Orogen Group, an investment firm that he co-founded last year.  “Everything that happens with artificial intelligence, robotics and natural language — all of that is going to make processes easier.  It’s going to change the back office,” said Pandit.  While his forecast for job losses is in step with one made by Citigroup last year, his timeline is more aggressive.  In a March 2016 report, Citigroup estimated a 30% reduction between 2015 and 2025, mainly due to automation in retail banking.  That would see full-time jobs drop by 770,000 in the US and by about 1-million in Europe.  The banking industry is becoming “enormously competitive,” Pandit said, adding that he foresaw the emergence of “specialist providers” as well as consolidation in the industry.

• Read this report by Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in full at Moneyweb

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