International digital bank Barclays is developing measures to reduce its costs by up to £1 billion, which could include cutting 2,000 jobs in the company's back office.
The £1 billion in cost cuts would save the bank about 7% of its base annual operating costs of £15 billion.
If the plan to boost the bank's profitability, devised by Barclays managers and its Chief Executive Coimbatore Sundararajan Venkatakrishnan, is fully implemented, cutting 2,000 jobs in the Barclays Execution Services division will be inevitable, Reuters reported.
The digital bank has recently stepped up efforts to cut costs. Cutting bonuses and jobs in its retail and investment banking businesses have been part of those efforts, but this is the first time the company may cut staff at Barclays Execution Services.
The Barclays Execution Services division was created in 2017 to consolidate the functions of the international and retail banking divisions in the UK, as well as to eliminate duplication and implement post-crisis risk management rules.
It is worth noting that the possibility of reducing headcount in Barclays Execution Services is still under consideration, and the bank may change its mind in favor of job cuts in other divisions.
At the end of 2022, Barclays Execution Services had 22,300 employees, 25% of Barclays' total workforce. At the same time, the division's annual staff costs rose to £2 billion over the year.
At the moment, Barclays is preparing its financial report for the company's investors, and the bank's management is trying to increase its declining book value by any means necessary. This situation has put Barclays at a crossroads where it needs to cut costs and avoid laying off qualified staff in order to compete on equal terms with Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, and UBS.
At the same time, the head of Barclays said that he intends to start restructuring the bank to convince shareholders that the bank has a clear plan for further development.
For this purpose, Barclays worked closely with Boston Consulting Group, which developed various strategies, including investments in various business areas.
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