Barclays bank cut 5,000 jobs in cost-saving drive

Barclays bank has confirmed it cut thousands of jobs around the world in a huge cost-cutting exercise.

Some 5,000 roles were axed from its global workforce of 84,000 last year in a bid to "simplify and reshape the business", it said.

About a quarter of the cuts have taken place in the UK, the BBC understands.

A Barclays spokesperson said the bank was supporting affected employees with training and advice, depending where staff were based.

The reduction in headcount has been possible due to redundancies, as well as vacancies that have not been filled during a hiring freeze, as Sky News first reported.

A spokesperson for the British banking giant confirmed to the BBC that it made the changes to "improve service and deliver higher returns".

Most employees affected worked in back-office support teams, "as management layers are reduced and the group improves its technology and automation capabilities", they said.

Barclays said the cuts were part of its plans to improve profitability, which it said were announced in its third-quarter results in October last year.

However, the total number of cuts is much higher than the 900 UK jobs previously reported.

It marks the latest step in its savings programme, which has already seen jobs go across its retail and investment banking businesses.

It has also announced nearly 200 branch closures in recent years, saying only 10% of transactions were now taking place face-to-face.

The bank reported pre-tax profits for the three months to September of £1.9bn, slightly better than analysts' forecasts, but down from £2bn a year ago.

The latest announcement, which is thought to be among the biggest savings exercises carried out at Barclays since the 2008 financial crisis, will increase pressure on the lender ahead of its full-year results for 2023 being published next month.