‘30,000 bank jobs to go’ in cost-cutting drive by Barclays

A radical redundancy programme could see the bank’s global workforce fall from 132,000 to below 100,000 by the end of 2017, according to The Times.

The lender will face pressure to clarify its plans when it unveils half-year financial results next week.

Barclays declined to comment on the newspaper report

The bank is already undergoing a major cost-cutting programme which saw 14,000 posts slashed last year and is expected to see 5,000 more go by 2016, with dozens of branches also closing down.

It has yet to announce any further cuts but it is understood that in the longer term Barclays is likely to see further headcount reduction driven by the use of technology to do the kind of work currently carried out by staff.

Chief executive Mr Jenkins was fired earlier this month as recently-appointed chairman John McFarlane - who has taken over at the helm until a replacement is found - said the bank needed a new leader to speed up change.

Mr Jenkins had reportedly fallen out with the board over strategy and the pace of cost cutting. Mr McFarlane said the bank needed faster revenue growth, adding that the share price was unchanged on six years ago and dividends “low and flat”.

Senior sources told The Times that a programme of further job cuts was thought to be the only way to address the bank’s under performance and hit a target of doubling its share price.

It was understood that the bank’s new chief executive will have to sign up to a major jobs cull, according to the report.

Barclays is expected to focus on automating manual processes within its retail bank, according to the report, with the brunt of cuts likely to fall on middle and back office operations where the largest savings could be achieved.