(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Bancorp is cutting thousands of branch workers as it works to adjust to changing customer preferences, according to a person briefed on the decision.

The cuts will be in the low thousands, the person said, asking not to be identified because the number isn’t public. In a memo seen by Bloomberg, Chief Executive Officer Andy Cecere said U.S. Bancorp “made the the difficult decision to eliminate their jobs because customer behaviors have changed.” The bank had a workforce of 74,000 as of Oct. 16.

The Minneapolis-based firm will also create some new customer-focused positions and launch a training program so existing employees can widen their skill sets, the memo said. A spokeswoman for U.S. Bancorp confirmed the contents of the memo and declined to comment on the number of cuts.

Banks have been reassessing the role of branches in their strategies as customers increasingly turn to digital options. U.S. Bancorp has said it plans to lean heavily on digital offerings and enter new markets with a “branch-light concept.” Earlier this year, the firm hired Derek White from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA as chief digital officer to boost innovation.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hannah Levitt in New York at hlevitt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Dan Reichl

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