Barclays Capital announces job cuts
Barclays Capital, the investment arm of Barclays Bank, has today announced 400 worldwide redundancies despite the fact that the company recently announced significant profits and an increase in funding put aside for bonuses and remuneration packages. It seems that the worldwide economic slowdown is finally beginning to hit the investment banking arena which many people began to think was "bombproof".
The vast majority on the employment cuts within Barclays Capital will be within the European division which is dominated by London although there will be a trimming of the headcount from worldwide operations. Whether or not this is the beginning of a trend within the investment banking arena remains to be seen although the sector had appeared to be "defying gravity" while now it appears to be coming back down to earth.
If, as many people expect, the worldwide economy struggles in the foreseeable future it is highly likely that we will see further reductions in headcounts at various investment banking operations around the world, with London likely to be particularly hard hit. There are now growing concerns that we could see a double dip recession not only in the UK but in the worldwide economy.
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