Sberbank of Russia to lay off 20% of its employees

One of Russia’s largest banks, Sberbank, plans a major staff reduction by the end of 2025, with approximately 20% of employees to be laid off following performance assessments conducted by artificial intelligence systems.

CEO German Gref said the bank used a multi-agent AI system to analyze employee work and project efficiency, identifying staff deemed ‘inefficient.’ The main wave of redundancies is expected to be completed by January 1, 2026, as part of cost and business-structure optimization.

Sberbank’s financial statements already reflect a reduction in workforce: as of September 30, 2025, the bank employed 294,578 people, down from 308,092 at the end of 2024.