Careers

Deutsche Bank CEO suggests robots could replace half the company's 97,000 employees

Share
Robots are the real reason why jobs in America are disappearing
VIDEO0:0000:00
Robots are the real reason why jobs in America are disappearing

Some very smart people say that robots are going to steal your job.

Researchers at Oxford University estimate that 47 percent of U.S. jobs could be replaced by robots, automated technology and automated intelligence (AI) within the next 20 years. Jeff Hesse, PwC principal and U.S. people and organization co-leader, tells CNBC Make It, "The displacement is already beginning to happen."

Elon Musk told the National Governors Association, "There certainly will be job disruption. Because what's going to happen is robots will be able to do everything better than us." Musk even went so far as to say that "AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization."

John Cryan, the millionaire CEO of Deutsche Bank, is the latest industry leader to suggest that technology will lead to significant layoffs — and possibly sooner than we think.

John Cryan, CEO of Deutsche Bank
Thomas Lohnes | Getty Images

"We employ 97,000 people," Cryan told the Financial Times. "Most big peers have more like half that number."

"We're too manual, which can make you error-prone and it makes you inefficient," he said. "There's a lot of machine learning and mechanization that we can do."

He isn't just speculating. In late 2015, Deutsche Bank announced that it planned to eliminate 9,000 employees as a part of a five-year restructuring plan. So far, 4,000 jobs have been cut. Technology, says Cryan, will allow for Deutsche to complete these cuts and more.

When asked about the specific number of employees at risk of being replaced, he told Laura Noonan at the Financial Times it would be a "big number."

Elon Musk issues yet another warning against runaway artificial intelligence
VIDEO1:0301:03
Elon Musk issues yet another warning against runaway artificial intelligence

In September, Cryan told the Financial Times that many Deutsche accountants, for instance, could be replaced by simple technology. They "spend a lot of the time basically being an abacus," he said.

Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have urged people not to panic over increased reliance on AI technology, saying that fears about robots putting people out of work are overstated.

But Cryan believes entire industries will be able to replace workers with robots, not just Deutsche Bank. "We have to find new ways of employing people and maybe people need to find new ways of spending their time," he said. "The truthful answer is we won't need as many people."

He says one reason for Deutsche's shift away from human labor is that consumer banking has moved online, removing the need for many brick-and-mortar branches.

"The truth is if I went to a load of branches, I'd wait quite a lot of the day before I encountered [any] customers," he says. "They just don't come in as often as they used to."

Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook

Don't miss:

If robots take your job, the government might have to pay you to live
VIDEO1:1501:15
If robots take your job, the government might have to pay you to live
Related Video
Elon Musk issues yet another warning against runaway artificial intelligence
VIDEO1:0301:03
Elon Musk issues yet another warning against runaway artificial intelligence