Several companies, including Barclays, have announced layoffs affecting thousands of workers in October 2026 as businesses across technology, banking, retail, healthcare, and telecommunications accelerate restructuring and cost-cutting.
Barclays announced on October 22 plans to cut about 5,000 jobs in 2026, after already reducing its workforce by about 1,000 earlier in the year.
The bank said that it is using technology to simplify operations, lower fixed costs and improve returns, with cuts expected across operational and functional roles.
Barclays Group Chief Executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan said artificial intelligence (AI) would play an increasingly important role in the bank’s operations, but its benefits depended on first establishing the necessary infrastructure.
“AI has an important role to play and may have a more important role to play in the future. I’ve often said that it is the icing on the cake; it’s not the cake, because you need to do the infrastructure build to get the benefits of AI,” he said.
Barclays, Netflix and eBay Announce Layoffs
Netflix also announced plans to lay off about 1,000 employees, about 6% of its global workforce. The reductions affect product, technology, legal and human resources teams.
Meanwhile, eBay is cutting about 1,000 jobs, equivalent to roughly 9% of its workforce. The move marks its second round of layoffs this year, following the elimination of about 800 positions in February.
Semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm has also confirmed a global performance-focused workforce reduction following annual employee reviews.
However, the company has not disclosed the number of jobs affected, with notifications expected to begin in November.
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Retail, Gaming and Healthcare
Kroger plans to eliminate approximately 3,000 corporate positions over the next three years as it restructures its operations.
Electronic Arts has announced about 400 job cuts, representing approximately 3% of its global workforce.
The gaming company is also closing BioWare, the studio known for the Mass Effect series, as it narrows its game portfolio.
In the pharmaceutical sector, Pfizer confirmed approximately 150 layoffs at its manufacturing facility in Portage, Michigan. InvaGen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Cipla, separately announced 205 job cuts across two New York facilities.
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Telecommunications and Insurance
Telia Company announced plans to cut about 900 jobs from its 14,100-strong workforce by the end of 2026. The telecommunications company expects the reductions to generate annual gross savings of SEK 1 billion.
US health insurer PacificSource also announced 134 layoffs on October 21.
October Layoff Figures
The companies have disclosed the following workforce reductions:
- Barclays: 5,000 planned job cuts in 2026.
- Kroger: 3,000 corporate positions over three years.
- Netflix: Approximately 1,000 jobs.
- eBay: Approximately 1,000 jobs.
- Telia Company: Approximately 900 jobs.
- Electronic Arts: Approximately 400 jobs.
- InvaGen Pharmaceuticals: 205 jobs.
- Pfizer: Approximately 150 jobs in Michigan.
- PacificSource: 134 jobs.
- Qualcomm: Number of affected jobs not disclosed.
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