DNB Technology Staff Face a Cut of About 400 Full-Time Equivalents as the Bank Leans on AI Agents

Norway's largest bank, DNB, is cutting its workforce by about 400 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in Technology & Services, and it links the cut directly to agentic AI that replaces tasks that were previously handled manually. It names customer data control, Know Your Customer (KYC) work, technology development and coding as areas where AI agents can contribute substantial efficiency gains, and the downsizing is to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2026. For Metaintro readers working in bank operations, compliance or software, the useful part is what sits around the headline, covering which tasks are exposed, how many people work in the unit, what Norwegian law requires before anyone is dismissed and what support exists afterwards. This guide sets that out from the side of the staff affected and anyone weighing a move into the same kind of work.

What Did DNB Announce on Tuesday?

The notice went out at 09:00 CET on 6 October 2026. DNB is carrying out organisational changes and downsizing as part of a comprehensive restructuring of Technology & Services (T&S), and it will adapt the organisation of T&S and its skills mix to capture gains from new technology and new work processes. Alongside AI and other new technology, DNB also points to its ambition to become Norway's most cost-efficient bank as the reason for the cuts, according to Finansforbundet's magazine Finansfokus.

Restructuring costs will be recognised in the fourth quarter of 2026, with the effect relating to costs fully recognised from the second quarter of 2027, and more detail on the financial effects is due later this year. The process will follow applicable rules and legislation, in close dialogue with the employee representatives.

DNB shares rose a little over one percent on Oslo Børs around 12:30 on Tuesday. The bank made a pre-tax profit of 13 billion kroner from April to June, and the Norwegian state is its largest owner with 34 percent of the shares.

Is It 400 People or 400 Full-Time Equivalents?

DNB gives the cut as about 400 full-time equivalents, and the Norwegian term used in coverage, årsverk, means the amount of work one person in a full-time position does over one normal working year. DNB has not given a separate count of people. For Finansforbundet members in Norway, about 1,500 staff are in the selection pool and about 350 FTEs are to go, with the rest taken at DNB's Riga office, mainly hitting the Oslo and Bergen offices.

Technology & Services has 2,000 employees in various locations, and DNB did not answer which countries the cuts would hit when asked. Across the whole group, DNB had 10,603 full-time equivalents and 11,649 employees at the end of 2025, in figures from its annual report.

DNB's office in Riga, Latvia, had around 600 staff in October 2025, by DNB's own count in a job advert, and the union Finansforbundet confirmed at the time that DNB was moving several functions to Riga.

Where Does DNB See Gains From AI Agents?

Control of customer data and the work relating to the Know Your Customer (KYC) process, as well as technology development and coding, are where the bank is already seeing that AI agents can contribute substantial efficiency gains. DNB has simplified a number of internal processes and routines over the past few years and adopted agentic AI that contributes to faster processes and increased capacity.

The tasks most open to replacement are short and repetitive ones done entirely on a screen, where there is plenty of data on how the task should be solved and where human review is not critical, in the view of Anders Eidesvik, an AI adviser at Langsikt. He describes reading through applications and checking case details as core bank tasks that AI programs can do, and he expects more banks to follow DNB and cut FTEs.

Elin Sandnes, DNB's group executive vice president for the technology division, wrote that AI and other technology will continue to affect how we work, which tasks are performed and which skills we need (translated), when E24 asked whether AI would bring more cuts.

AI is changing the way we work and how we deliver services to our customers. We are already seeing considerable gains, and are therefore adapting our organisation to a new reality, Group Chief Executive Officer Kjerstin Braathen said, according to the DNB stock exchange release.

Is This the First Round of Cuts at DNB?

Two earlier rounds came in 2024 and 2025. In September 2024, DNB's restructuring set out to cut around 500 FTEs over the following six months, through centralisation and reductions in staff and support functions, as it prepared for lower interest rates and tougher competition. Braathen said DNB was well placed for new steps in digitalisation and automation, while costs had risen with high inflation and more regulatory requirements, and the process was completed just before Christmas 2024.

In August 2025 came a further 100 positions in the Technology & Services division, hitting operations in KYC, anti-money laundering and operational security. DNB put those cuts down partly to significant technological advances in those areas (translated), while many of the affected functions moved to its Riga office.

KYC work has now been named in two rounds in a row, in August 2025 and in this week's notice. Lillian Hattrem, Finansforbundet's group chief representative at DNB, said that for several employees this is the third large restructuring process in three years (translated), and that it hurts.

What Is the Union Saying About the Timeline?

Finansforbundet, the largest union in the finance sector, represents over 34,000 members from 300 companies. One objection is the speed, since the cut is due by New Year and an orderly process in its view needs more time than the bank has set aside. The union will not accept dismissals in this process and expects it to be solved through voluntary measures, and it supports neither the selection pool nor the number of cuts.

Its deputy leader, Arne Fredrik Håstein, warns against treating AI as a natural law that automatically means fewer staff, saying the gains can be taken out in lower staffing, but also in better services, higher skills and more time for tasks where human judgement, trust and experience matter (translated), and the union will follow the process closely.

If the process is to be orderly and responsible, all options for employees must be considered before anyone is dismissed. It is hard to see how that can be done properly by New Year (translated), Finansforbundet deputy leader Arne Fredrik Håstein said, according to the Finansforbundet press release.

DNB staff can also be organised in the Fagforbundet Fintech union, whose representative at DNB had no comment for now. The professional body Econa, which organises around 34,000 economics graduates, expects the downsizing to be carried out in close dialogue with employee representatives.

What Does Norwegian Law Require Before Anyone Is Dismissed?

For staff employed in Norway, the Working Environment Act sets the steps. Before an employer decides on a dismissal, the question must, as far as practically possible, be discussed with the employee and with the employee's representatives, unless the employee does not want this, covering both the grounds and how staff are selected.

Collective redundancies are dismissals of at least 10 employees within 30 days for reasons not tied to the individual workers. In that case the employer must open talks with representatives as early as possible, aiming for an agreement that avoids or reduces dismissals, and must also notify Nav, the labour and welfare agency. Planned collective redundancies take effect at the earliest 30 days after Nav has been notified, and Nav can extend that period.

A dismissal must be objectively justified by the circumstances of the business, the employer or the employee, and a dismissal caused by downsizing is not justified if the employer has other suitable work in the business to offer. Where the employer belongs to a group, suitable work in other companies in the group counts too.

In a typical process, the grounds, the part of the business affected and the number of staff are discussed first with union representatives, followed by individual meetings with affected staff, where Finansforbundet advises bringing a representative along. The most common selection criteria are length of service, skills, personal suitability, age and social factors.

How Long Is the Notice Period, and Who Gets Rehired First?

Unless a written agreement or collective agreement sets otherwise, the mutual notice period is one month, and it is at least two months after five years and three months after 10 years of continuous service with the same employer.

For long-serving older staff, an employee dismissed after at least 10 years of service gets at least four months from age 50, five months from age 55 and six months from age 60. Notice runs from the first day of the month after the dismissal, and time spent in other companies in the same group counts towards service.

An employee who has worked for the business for at least 12 months in the last two years has a preferential right to a new post they are qualified for after a dismissal for business reasons, lasting one year from the end of the notice period, and in a group it extends to other group companies. The right lapses if a suitable offer is not accepted within 14 days. For staff covered by the agreement between Finansforbundet and the Finans Norge organisation, those with three years in the company get the right for two years from the dismissal date, provided they tell the company in writing that they want to use it.

Should You Sign a Severance Deal, and What Support Does Nav Give?

DNB will offer what it calls a virkemiddelpakke, a package of measures, and it declined to explain how that differs from a standard severance package. Before signing anything, check the points Finansforbundet lists for anyone offered a severance package.

• Signing ends your right to challenge. With a severance agreement you give up the right to contest the dismissal.
• The rehiring right can go too. The preferential right can be lost if you sign a severance agreement with the employer.
• Pension and insurance. Leaving takes you out of the company occupational pension scheme and, as a rule, its insurance schemes, and Finansforbundet warns of a risk of losing the AFP contractual pension, so check its terms.
• Read the whole agreement. It should cover notice period, duty to work, post-termination pay, payment date, holiday pay, insurance and tax.

If you lose a job in Norway, conditions for unemployment benefit (dagpenger) from Nav include that you have lost at least 50 percent of your total working time and lost your income wholly or partly, are under 67 and have earned at least 204 824 kroner in the last 12 months, or at least 409 647 kroner in total over the last 36 months. You must also register as a job seeker, stay in Norway as a member of the national insurance scheme, be a genuine job seeker and send in a meldekort every 14 days. Apply two weeks before your last day of pay, and no later than the day you are no longer entitled to pay, to avoid losing benefit.

What This Means for Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

DNB has named the areas where it sees AI agents bringing substantial efficiency gains, customer data control, KYC, technology development and coding, and KYC operations were also hit in August 2025.

In Norway, about 350 FTEs are to go from a selection pool of about 1,500, and the Working Environment Act gives staff employed in Norway notice, consultation and a right to other suitable work if it exists. Here is what we would do.

• If you work in T&S in Norway, get a representative involved now. Representatives are the first people management consults, and Finansforbundet calls them your best source of information throughout the process.
• Ask about other suitable work before anything else. A downsizing dismissal is not justified where other suitable work exists in the business or the group, so ask which roles are open across DNB.
• Do not rush a package. Signing can cost you the right to contest and the rehiring right, and Finansforbundet advises asking for more time if you need it.
• Move towards judgement, responsibility and customer contact. That is the advice Eidesvik gives anyone who sees their role as vulnerable, along with learning to use AI tools well.
• Plan the search as a routine. Set a weekly rhythm of tailored applications, outreach and interview practice, the plan laid out in How to Job Search With AI After a Layoff.
• Coders, show what you build beyond the code. DNB lists technology development and coding as areas for AI gains, so your CV should lead with systems you designed, problems you owned and AI tools you already work with.

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People Also Asked

Q: How many jobs is DNB cutting?

A: DNB is reducing its workforce by about 400 full-time equivalents in Technology & Services, a workload measure, and it has not given a separate count of people.

Q: Why is DNB cutting jobs in Technology and Services?

A: The bank points to agentic AI that replaces tasks that were previously handled manually, and it names customer data control, KYC work, technology development and coding as areas where AI agents can contribute substantial efficiency gains.

Q: When will the DNB job cuts happen?

A: The downsizing is due to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2026, with restructuring costs booked in the same quarter.

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