Artificial intelligence may be coming for hundreds of thousands of jobs, but Standard Chartered Plc’s chief executive officer has a message for anxious employees: we’ve been here before.

“There’s a fear factor,” Bill Winters said in response to a question on the evolution of AI during the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit on Tuesday. He said the lender has a workforce of roughly 100,000, the same when he joined the bank 11 years ago. “We automated away 25,000 jobs or so along the way, and we replaced those roles with other roles.”The London-headquartered bank outlined plans in May to cut corporate functions roles by more than 15% by 2030 — amounting to roughly 8,000 support roles —-as it scales practical uses of AI to streamline processes.

Winters’ previous comments on using AI to replace some “lower-value human capital” triggered a sharp backlash on social media. Later, he sought to reassure staff and emphasized the bank’s commitment to transitioning its workforce.

The company is “happy to train people up so we can get the most out of them,” said Winters, adding that if they eventually go somewhere else the bank will be able to attract others. “So there’s a level of fear, but I think you can mitigate that with the right kind of re-skilling and training actions.”Banks globally have unveiled job cuts as they use AI to improve productivity. Barclays Plc is cutting 5,000 jobs to cut costs through the use of AI, becoming the latest large lender to slash its workforce as the new technology ripples throughout the banking industry.