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DBS Bank Retrains Workforce to Adapt to AI Disruption
8 Nov
Summary
- DBS Bank retraining 35,000 employees for AI-driven job changes
- CEO says bank will not hire for roles replaced by AI, focuses on reskilling
- OCBC CEO expects no job losses despite AI adoption
As of November 8th, 2025, DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Singapore's largest bank, is taking proactive steps to retrain its workforce in anticipation of artificial intelligence (AI) reshaping jobs and skills.
According to DBS CEO Tan Su Shan, the bank will not be hiring new people for positions that will be replaced by AI. Instead, the lender is focusing on retraining its existing 35,000 local employees over the next one to two years to prepare them for the changes brought about by AI.
"Those who are in those jobs that will be changed, we will have to take them out of their jobs and really start training them, which is what we've been doing for years," Tan said in a recent interview. The bank is helping staff pivot to "adjacent career pathways" or training them to assist with new AI-powered services like video teller machines.
Despite its own adoption of AI, rival Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC) does not expect to see job losses in the foreseeable future. "With the use of technology, you have not actually seen there's any need for us to say that we have to release people," OCBC CEO Helen Wong stated.
Tan mirrored the sentiment of JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, who has touted the opportunities offered by AI. "It's sort of telling our staff, embrace it," Tan said, acknowledging that the change is here to stay.
