Barclays starts to cut hundreds of jobs in cost-saving bid and investment bank shake-up

Barclays has reportedly started cutting hundreds of roles, including at its investment bank, as the group looks to cut costs and improve its share price.

The cuts will impact several hundred employees in Barclays’ global markets, investment banking and research divisions, according to Bloomberg News, citing unnamed sources. The people said the job cuts started on Wednesday.

“We regularly review our talent pool to ensure that we can invest in talent and deliver for clients,” the bank said in a statement.

The news comes as Barclays implements its biggest restructuring since the financial crisis, designed to save £2bn in costs and return £10bn to shareholders by 2026.

It revealed in January that it cut 5,000 jobs worldwide last year in a bid to “simplify and reshape the business”.

Its investment banking division is a major focus for improvement. Barclays’ earnings were dragged down last year by a weaker performance from the unit, which some investors have argued is a volatile revenue stream that it should ditch entirely.

Barclays is the only domestic UK bank that still has a global dealmaking arm, dwarfed by Wall Street rivals like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.

Unlike the biggest US banks, Barclays’ investment banking and trading operations did not receive a major boost last quarter from a rebound in global dealmaking and capital markets activity.

The business’ income came in at £3.33bn for the three months, down from £3.57bn in the previous quarter, as a 25 per cent rise in income from equities trading was more than offset by a 21 per cent drop in fixed income trading.

Although Barclays has reiterated confidence in the business as part of its new restructuring, it plans to grow other parts of its group to diversify revenue streams.

The bank aims to cut £700m in costs from the investment bank by 2026 and does not plan to allocate it any more risk-weighted assets from the parent company in the coming years.