Commerzbank job cuts: the bank is cutting about 3,000 gross positions and sets out an AI plan to free up a tenth of its capacity

Commerzbank plans a group-wide reduction of around 3,000 gross positions, and in the same release says AI agents will significantly reduce labour-intensive tasks. The bank set this out in its first-quarter results release on 8 May 2026. It says "the Bank's continued transformation is accompanied by a Group-wide reduction of around a further 3,000 gross positions", partially offset by targeted hiring in selected growth and future areas. On AI it says the bank "will consistently deploy AI agents to support entire processes", from account switching and know-your-customer checks to drafting contracts, and "anticipates that AI will enable it to free up and partially redeploy around 10% of its capacities", letting sales staff spend more time advising customers. It plans to invest around 600 million euros in AI over 2026 to 2030. The release never says AI is what removes the 3,000 positions, which is why this is a dispatch and not a counted event in the AI layoffs tracker on this site: the bank puts the cut beside the AI plan and says the freed capacity is redeployed.