Wednesday January 14, 01:35 PM
Barclays to cut another 2,100 jobs
LONDON (AFP) - British banking giant Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) is to cut 2,100 jobs in its retail and commercial businesses, it said Wednesday, a day after announcing a similar number of job losses in its investment divisions.
The new cuts, which could affect staff in its high street branches, bring to over 4,000 the number of Barclays job losses as the banking sector struggles to cope with the global credit crunch.
A spokesman said that "2,100 jobs are at risk," adding the bank was consulting with the Unite labour union over the losses.
"Barclays continually reviews its operations and resources so that they function efficiently as business needs and customer requirements evolve. In the current market conditions, this is particularly important," the spokesman said.
The firm will take "all possible measures" to reduce compulsory lay-offs, including releasing contractors, closing vacancies and calling for voluntary redundancies, he added.
"We work with the individuals affected and offer them extensive one-to-one support," he said.
Worldwide, Barclays employs around 156,000 people, of which 32,500 are in its investment banking and investment management divisions. In Britain it has 69,000 staff.
On Tuesday, a Barclays source said the 2,100 cuts would be made wordwide its its investment arms -- 1,300 in Barclays Capital, with a further 500 to go at Barclays Wealth and approximately 330 in Barclays Global Investors.
There were no immediate details about Wednesday's new job reductions.
Less than a week ago, Barclays announced plans to cut more than 400 IT jobs, saying it was doing so in order to run a more efficient operation.
Trade unions criticised the job cuts and the way in which they were announced, calling for Barclays to articulate a broader strategy to give their employees confidence.
Britain's banks have been hit hard as a result of the international financial crisis and the wider British economy is facing recession.
In October, the government unveiled a half-trillion-pound rescue package, including up to 50 billion pounds to buy shares in the country's ailing banking sector.
Barclays rivals Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) , Lloyds and HBOS -- the latter two of which are now a merged group -- have all been forced to take government funds but Barclays has opted to raise capital from private investors.
Earlier this month, finance minister Alistair Darling refused to rule out fresh government action to help British banks but insisted it was not his "first port of call."
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