Dive Brief:
- Barclays cut 5,000 jobs last year as the firm carries out a plan to shave £1 billion in costs, roughly 7% of the bank’s annual operating expenses.
- The London-based lender confirmed to the BBC and Bloomberg on Monday that 5,000 roles were cut from its global workforce of 84,000 last year in a bid to "simplify and reshape the business, improve service and deliver higher returns.” SkyNews first reported the cuts Monday.
- The headcount reduction comes as Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan has been struggling to boost the firm’s stock, which has declined 26% since he took over the bank’s top role in November 2021.
Dive Insight:
Barclays’ ongoing effort to rein in expenses is the firm’s most significant cost-cutting plan since the 2008 financial crisis, according to SkyNews.
The majority of the impacted jobs are within the bank’s support functions, reflecting the removal of management layers and improved technology and automation, the firm said in a statement to Bloomberg.
The bank is “evaluating material structural cost actions,” Venkatakrishnan said in October, indicating the bank could launch a restructuring ahead of a Feb. 20 presentation to investors. The strategy is aimed at lifting the bank’s valuation.
The firm enlisted Boston Consulting Group last year to evaluate its strategy, Bloomberg reported.
Barclays has seen at least three headcount reductions in recent years, beginning with 200 jobs in November 2022, followed by a cut of roughly 100 investment bankers in April and a two-pronged effort in September, encompassing about 450 U.K. retail-banking employees and 5% of the trading division’s client-facing staff.
Despite the cuts, the bank said it is still hiring in some areas. Barclays continues to “selectively hire front office roles in key businesses,” the firm told Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, the firm has announced nearly 200 branch closures in recent years as it responds to dwindling in-person transactions.
The firm said only 10% of transactions are now taking place at its branches, according to the BBC.
