American Express to Cut About 5% of Global Workforce in Restructuring Push

October 23, 2026 #american express, #restructuring charge, #stephen squeri,#workforce reduction

American Express plans to shrink its global headcount by about 5%, the company’s chief executive disclosed Friday. CEO Stephen Squeri shared the plan with analysts on the company’s post-earnings call, and he confirmed that the card issuer already took a restructuring charge in the third quarter to cover it.

What the Company Disclosed

Squeri tied the job cuts directly to the quarter’s financial results. The restructuring charge in the third quarter signals that American Express has moved from planning to execution. The company expects the plan to eliminate roughly 5% of its global workforce.

Squeri delivered the news during the earnings call, the standard forum where executives walk analysts through quarterly performance and strategy. The announcement places the workforce reduction alongside the company’s latest financial results rather than as a separate corporate update.

Why Restructuring Charges Matter

A restructuring charge is an accounting cost that companies record when they reorganize operations, and it often covers expenses tied to workforce reductions. By booking the charge in the third quarter, American Express put the cost of the plan into its latest reporting period. Analysts typically watch such charges closely because they show how much a company commits to a cost-cutting effort.

The figure of 5% applies to the company’s total global workforce, so the plan reaches beyond any single region or business unit. That scope makes the move a company-wide adjustment rather than a narrow, targeted trim.

What to Watch Next

Investors and employees now look for further detail on how American Express will carry out the plan. Key open questions include the timing of the reductions, the size of the charge, and the business areas the cuts will touch. The company’s initial disclosure focused on the headline percentage and the third-quarter charge.

For now, the message from Squeri is clear: the company has set a course to reduce its workforce by about one in every twenty positions worldwide, and it has already begun accounting for the cost.