Mizuho: Plans to replace 5,000 clerical positions with AI within 10 years

Mizuho Financial Group announced plans to replace approximately 5,000 administrative positions with artificial intelligence over the next 10 years, as Japan's third-largest lending institution seeks to leverage technology to enhance productivity.

Mizuho stated in a press release: "We plan to enhance profitability by fully utilizing AI and reallocating human resources to key business areas." The bank also emphasized: "This is not a layoff." Affected employees will be reassigned to other positions.

This move comes against the backdrop of Japanese companies actively expanding AI applications to improve operational efficiency, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also listing AI investment as a core component of her policy agenda. Under pressure from labor shortages, the Japanese banking sector is generally seeking to advance AI transformation while minimizing large-scale layoffs.

Mizuho CEO Masahiro Kihara responded last October to concerns about AI replacing human labor, stating, "I do not believe that humans will lose their value; they can move towards more value-added work."

Japanese Banking Sector Accelerates AI Deployment

Mizuho stated that its core banking business unit and other companies under the group currently have approximately 15,000 clerical positions, with plans to replace about 5,000 of these with AI over the next 10 years. The bank clearly pointed out that the relevant employees will be reassigned to other positions and not laid off.

This human resource reallocation strategy reflects the cautious approach that Japanese companies generally take in advancing automation—intentionally avoiding the labor relations risks that can arise from large-scale layoffs while tapping into the efficiency dividends of AI.

Major Japanese banks are accelerating their AI applications. According to previous reports by Bloomberg, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has partnered with OpenAI to accelerate the promotion of AI applications in banking services. At the policy level, the Takaichi government is also treating AI investment as an important lever to boost economic competitiveness.

Facing the structural challenge of ongoing labor shortages, executives in the Japanese banking sector are actively addressing market concerns about AI replacing jobs. Public statements from bank leaders like Masahiro Kihara aim to convey the message of "AI empowering rather than replacing" to employees and regulators.

Looking globally, the banking sector's investment in AI continues to heat up, with application scenarios covering various fields from product development to risk management. JP Morgan invests approximately $2 billion annually in AI technology development, stating that this investment also saves about the same amount in costs each year, forming a significant input-output closed loop