Barclays will cut more than 450 jobs, around 1% of its UK workforce, the union Unite said today.
The union pointed out that the cuts come despite the banking giant making more than £1 billion in profit in the second quarter of the year. The UK’s top banks benefited from rising interest rates in the first half of the year amid rising interest rates, as the price for a customer to burrow typically rose ahead of the price of lending.
Unite national officer Dominic Hook said: “How can a profitable finance organisation such as Barclays slash over 450 staff amid a cost-of-living crisis? This isn’t an organisation struggling to survive, this bank is making billions of pounds of profits.
“If these plans for compulsory redundancy are implemented then hundreds of families will lose their livelihoods and face financial hardship because of a management decision which is both unnecessary and unjustified.”
The union said it is working to prevent compulsory job losses, allowing any redundancies to be voluntary ones instead. It also said it was working “to ensure staff are given re-training and redeployment opportunities”.
The Standard understands that the jobs will be head office roles at the UK VP level and below. Barclays’ headquarters are at Canary Wharf.
A Barclays spokesperson said: “We continue to review and adapt our operations based on the ways customers are choosing to interact with us. These changes will enable greater collaboration across our teams, allowing us to continue to improve service for customers and clients. We are committed to supporting colleagues through this change, working closely with Unite.”
Hook said: “The staff losing their jobs are not highly paid rich City bankers but those earning modest salaries within Barclays. These employees worked throughout the Covid pandemic to help to deliver the highest customer service to Barclays customers. These workers deserve better.”
Barclays shares are up 1.4% today to 152p. They’re down 7% for the year to date.
