Barclays job cuts fail to dampen City recruiters’ spirits
9 May 2014
The loss of 7,000 jobs in Barclays' investment bank announced yesterday does not detract from a rosy City jobs market overall, City recruiters have told Recruiter.
Fri, 9 May 2014
The loss of 7,000 jobs in Barclays' investment bank announced yesterday does not detract from a rosy City jobs market overall, City recruiters have told Recruiter.
The jobs losses in Barclays' investment banking division were announced by the bank as part of a plan to cut 19,000 jobs overall around the world by 2016.
More than 2,000 staff have already left its investment bank arm this year, and with these 7,000 additional job losses, the number employed in this division is set to fall to around 16,000. At the end of last year, Barclays investment bank employed 26,200 staff.
A Barclays spokesperson tells Recruiter that a third of the job cuts in its investment bank will be in the UK, but she said the bank “wouldn’t want to go into any further level of detail” as to in which countries the axe will fall. Of the 19,000 jobs losses overall, the bank says half will be in the UK.
Dan McCarthy, managing director of international financial services search and selection firm One Search, tells Recruiter that while the Barclays announcement is clearly “not good news”, One Search “is very busy” with other investment banks still hiring.
Adam Buck, chief executive officer of Phaidon International, tells Recruiter that while “Barclays is a big bank and 7,000 is a big number, the finance sector remains pretty strong and is still a massive employer of people”.
While investment banking may be going through a difficult time, Buck says that other areas, such as private wealth, hedge funds and compliance, are still growing.
He adds that some who lose their jobs will be able to use their transferable skills in other areas of financial services. At the same time, he says the fall in opportunities in investment banking will accelerate the trend for PhD students who would have gone into the City to go into other areas such as engineering and oil & gas.
Hakan Enver, operations director of Morgan McKinley Financial Services, tells Recruiter that Barclays’ job cuts “will certainly result in increasing numbers of financial services candidates returning to the jobs market”.
He adds: “However, it remains to be seen what the long-term impact Barclays’ hiring cull with have. Should the markets continue to improve and trading arms of other institutions expand as a result, Barclays may find itself struggling to find talent in the future and consequently growth within its investment arm may suffer as a result.”
The jobs losses in Barclays' investment banking division were announced by the bank as part of a plan to cut 19,000 jobs overall around the world by 2016.
More than 2,000 staff have already left its investment bank arm this year, and with these 7,000 additional job losses, the number employed in this division is set to fall to around 16,000. At the end of last year, Barclays investment bank employed 26,200 staff.
A Barclays spokesperson tells Recruiter that a third of the job cuts in its investment bank will be in the UK, but she said the bank “wouldn’t want to go into any further level of detail” as to in which countries the axe will fall. Of the 19,000 jobs losses overall, the bank says half will be in the UK.
Dan McCarthy, managing director of international financial services search and selection firm One Search, tells Recruiter that while the Barclays announcement is clearly “not good news”, One Search “is very busy” with other investment banks still hiring.
Adam Buck, chief executive officer of Phaidon International, tells Recruiter that while “Barclays is a big bank and 7,000 is a big number, the finance sector remains pretty strong and is still a massive employer of people”.
While investment banking may be going through a difficult time, Buck says that other areas, such as private wealth, hedge funds and compliance, are still growing.
He adds that some who lose their jobs will be able to use their transferable skills in other areas of financial services. At the same time, he says the fall in opportunities in investment banking will accelerate the trend for PhD students who would have gone into the City to go into other areas such as engineering and oil & gas.
Hakan Enver, operations director of Morgan McKinley Financial Services, tells Recruiter that Barclays’ job cuts “will certainly result in increasing numbers of financial services candidates returning to the jobs market”.
He adds: “However, it remains to be seen what the long-term impact Barclays’ hiring cull with have. Should the markets continue to improve and trading arms of other institutions expand as a result, Barclays may find itself struggling to find talent in the future and consequently growth within its investment arm may suffer as a result.”
