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Innovation
Barclays is cutting back its UK IT workforce by axing 422 jobs - mainly at Radbroke Hall in Knutsford, northwest England.
The bank euphemistically said that the lay-offs are part of "essential changes to technology and infrastructure". A well-placed source told The Reg that affected staff should expect more details on Monday.
Barclays stressed that the cuts would not affect their IT services, but would let the bank (net income for 2011: £6.1 billion) innovate and streamline "so that we can innovate in new technologies and services for our customers, and be as effective and efficient as possible". The bank reckons the reorganisation could create 40 new positions. (AtW's comment: 422 jobs loss)
Barclays promised that they would aim to redeploy affected workers across the company as much as possible. A spokesperson added: "Whilst regrettably this will mean job losses, we will make every effort to mitigate compulsory redundancies and are working closely with Unite and impacted staff."
Unite union officer David Fleming thundered: "The decision by Barclays Technology to cut 422 jobs is a New Year's blow for the staff. The vast majority of jobs will be going from Radbroke Hall, Cheshire. There will also be jobs cut in Northampton and a scattering among other sites around the country."
In November, Barclays Capital cut IT contractor rates by 10 per cent. Barclays employs 57,000 people in the UK. ®
Source: Barclays axes 422 UK IT staff ? The Register
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