AI Takes Center Stage in Brokers’ Layoff Narratives

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) has already affected brokerage jobs, at least at two firms: eToro and the operator of FXCM and Tradu. Both brokers laid off (or to lay off) around 100 employees each and cited AI as a factor behind the move.

While there is no doubt that AI adoption is accelerating, “AI” also provides a convenient narrative. It bundles performance, redundancy, and cost-cutting into a single, forward-looking message that plays well with investors.

Only AI?

As FinanceMagnates.com reported exclusively, the Israel-headquartered broker is going to lay off about 7 per cent of its global staff. The company had 1,501 employees across more than 10 offices worldwide, as well as remote staff, by the end of 2024. This means over 100 employees will lose their jobs.

“We are aligning our resources with our key priorities and leveraging process automation and AI to operate more efficiently and focus on the areas most critical to our long-term success,” Yoni Assia, the founder and CEO of eToro, noted in a letter to staff that informed them about the upcoming layoffs.

The CEO of FXCM and Tradu, Brendan Callan, also attributed his firm’s decision to cut more than 100 roles to advances in agentic AI.

“We, like many firms, have made significant progress with the use of agentic AI tools, which provide an opportunity to streamline the company and improve our customer experience,” Callan earlier told FinanceMagnates.com.

However, eToro’s workforce reduction came at a time when its publicly listed shares were under pressure. Despite a strong debut, ETOR stock has fallen more than 51 per cent from its listing price. Even after the layoffs were made public - moves that often support struggling share prices - eToro’s stock declined again in Tuesday’s trading session.

In FXCM’s case, a source said the layoffs occurred as the Tradu brand may be undergoing an internal review.

eToro appears to have anticipated the impact of AI on their operations months or even years earlier.

In its initial public offering (IPO) prospectus last year, the broker stated that AI has been used to improve the efficiency of research and development, as well as IT functions. The broker also highlighted that a growing share of its software code is now written by AI.

It is also using AI for content creation and advertising campaigns.

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These two firms are not the only brokers to cite AI as a source of operational efficiency.

Nasdaq-listed Interactive Brokers mentioned the effects of AI across its product offering, competitive strategy, and risk management framework. The company has integrated AI into its platforms to improve data analysis and reporting for specific customer groups, including a commentary generator and news summaries.

Although IBKR did not cite any direct job impact from AI, it noted that the technology could disrupt the market by allowing competitors to offer new products or services that may “change the nature of our business”.

Brokers Adopt AI, but Risks Remain

Among the three London-listed CFD brokers, Plus500 did not clearly mention AI in its latest annual report, instead focusing on its in-house technology and automation.

IG Group, however, highlighted several implications of AI, describing it as both an opportunity to improve operations and a source of new risk that requires formal oversight.

These opportunities include investing in AI across the business to improve scale and efficiency, especially in customer support and manual tasks. The group has also introduced an AI-based employee engagement tool that allows more frequent staff surveys and deeper analysis of employee feedback.

IG also noted accuracy risks linked to reliance on AI and set up a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Committee as part of its governance and risk structure.

CMC Markets mainly views AI as an emerging technology that brings both potential benefits and operational risk.

Both IG and CMC reduced their workforce in recent years. While those cuts were made to improve efficiency, AI was not cited at the time, and the technology was less developed.