Barclays working on cost plan, could cut up to 2000 jobs

afr.com:

Barclays is working on plans to save as much as £1 billion ($1.9 billion), which could involve cutting as many as 2000 jobs, mainly in the British bank’s back office, a person with direct knowledge of the proposals told Reuters.

Managers at Barclays, led by chief executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan who is known within the bank as Venkat, are reviewing proposals to bolster its profitability. As part of these 1500 to 2000 jobs could be cut if implemented in full, the person said.

Barclays has made efforts to reduce expenses in recent years by slashing bonuses, as well as jobs in its retail and investment banking businesses. Bloomberg

A spokesperson for Barclays declined to comment on Thursday.

The potential cuts would primarily be at Barclays Execution Services, known internally as ‘BX’, and would form part of an overall target of reducing expenses by up to £1 billion across the group over several years, the person added.

Barclays has made efforts to reduce expenses in recent years by slashing bonuses, as well as jobs in its retail and investment banking businesses, but moves to shrink BX and the potential savings have not been reported before.

Created in 2017 to consolidate support functions for the bank’s two main business divisions, UK retail banking and international, BX was designed to eliminate duplication and implement post-crisis risk management rules.

Barclays’ £1 billion cost-saving target would represent about 7 per cent of the bank’s underlying annual operating expenses of £15 billion in 2022.

The BX headcount discussions are ongoing and Barclays could decide to prioritise layoffs in other areas, the source said.

BX’s staffing and costs have grown significantly in recent years. Its headcount rose to about 22,300 as