Barclays Bank To Lay Off 2000 Employees; Who All Are At Risk?

Barclays Bank, a British multinational universal bank, is planning to conduct another round of layoff in order to reduce expenses by up to 1 billion pounds over several years.

A person, on the condition of anonymity, revealed that 2,000 jobs could be cut soon. Barclays’ managerial team, which is led by Chief Executive CS Venkatakrishnan, said that the job cuts would primarily be at Barclays Execution Services. 

In recent years, the bank laid off several employees in its retail and investment banking businesses and slashed bonuses in order to reduce expenses. 

Who all are at risk?

Employees at the bank’s two main business divisions, UK retail banking and international and Barclays Execution Services: BX are at risk. Amid layoff tsunami, workers at Barclays Execution Services, known internally as ‘BX’, are primarily at risk because the bank has an overall target of reducing expenses by up to 1 billion pounds across the group. 

According to a report by Reuters, citing spokesperson, BX headcount discussions are ongoing in order to prioritize layoffs. 

The bank is currently looking to fund ways to boost the tumbling book value. The bank aims to compete with Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, and UBS. 

Barclays layoff

Barclays has been firing workers in recent weeks. Last month, the bank laid off dozens of staff in its U.S. consumer banking division. About 3% of employees in the bank’s U.S. consumer division were laid off as part of a global drive to cut costs.

A spokesperson for Barclays said in a statement, “We review our business on a regular basis to ensure we are operating as effectively and efficiently as possible.”

In recent years, the bank is facing scrutiny over sales slip-ups. Last year, the bank faced an estimated 450 million pound loss and regulatory scrutiny for exceeding a U.S. limit on sales of structured products. The loss estimate did not include tax.