Barclays Plc is to be the next investment banking giant to decide to cut jobs in its ranks, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter who wish to remain anonymous. Previously, UBS, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs decided to make a similar move.

Barclays Cuts Employment by Another 100 Jobs

According to the latest reports, Barclays is poised to say goodbye to a hundred employees in its investment banking group, following a significant slowdown in the industry that has already forced a sizable portion of its competitors to cut jobs.

The first interviews with employees who will be affected by the reductions are expected to begin this week, Bloomberg reports. However, these are not the first cuts in the division. In November 2022, the workforce was cut by 200 people or about 3% of Barclays' global investment division workforce. At the end of last year, the bank employed about 90,000 people.

Among the reasons behind the job cuts are deteriorating financial results. According to a report for the last quarter of 2022, investment banking fees shrank by more than 50% in one year, falling to $594 million.

Barclay's Competitors Hit by More Severe Cuts

Looking at what's been going on in the industry, even before the onset of the banking crisis that nearly led to the collapse of Switzerland's Credit Suisse, Barclays' cuts are modest, to say the least.

Struggling Credit Suisse reported in January that it wanted to reduce its workforce by 9,000 jobs. In contrast, after its acquisition by rival UBS, it was reported that the two institutions would reduce their workforce by a total of 36,000 positions after the merger .

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs reported that it was preparing to lay off 3,200 people due to deteriorating economic conditions. Although, a few months earlier it had suggested that the cuts could be even more severe, affecting 8% of the total team, or about 4,000 positions.

More modest cuts have been decided by JP Morgan, which wants to reduce 30 positions in investment banking, focusing mainly on junior-level posts. Although the headcount reduction affects less than 5% of all investment banking employees in the region, it is still one of the largest in recent years.

Massive Layoffs in Technology Sector

Bloomberg's data indicates that the loss of jobs in several vital sectors has affected almost 538,000 individuals since October 2022. The start of the year saw the worst weekly decline of 52,000 positions in 14 years, which was reminiscent of the financial crisis's negative impacts.

Out of the overall job losses, the technology sector experienced 172,000 cuts, followed by the consumer discretionary sector with 110,000 cuts, while the financial industry came in third, with 81,000 professionals being let go.

Notably, 20 companies accounted for 240,000 of the positions affected, with UBS leading the list of companies announcing the most significant cuts. In recent months, job reductions have been observed in major tech companies, such as Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft.

Tech and finance intersect in crypto, where significant job losses have been seen lately due to market discounts. Luno cut 35% of staff, Gemini had a third round of job cuts, and ConsenSys and Coinbase also reduced their headcounts. However, Binance aims to add 30% more full-time staff in 2023.