Barclays Expects About 5,000 Workforce Reductions in 2026

Barclays Chief Financial Officer Anna Cross put the bank's expected 2026 workforce reduction at roughly 5,000 full-time employees, which Barclays describes as technology-enabled, amid weaker fixed-income performance and falling European bank shares.

The estimate represents about 5% of the bank's workforce. Cross said roughly 1,000 reductions had taken place in the first half, and about 60% of the total is expected to affect support functions, including developers.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Barclays posted pretax profit of £2.322 billion, compared with £2.077 billion a year earlier, a 12% increase. The result was below the £2.4 billion analyst estimate compiled by the company. Income rose 3% to £7.365 billion.

Results varied across the bank's trading businesses. Equities performance rose 47% year over year, while performance in fixed-income, currencies and commodities fell 19%. Barclays Group Chief Executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan addressed the weaker fixed-income trading, saying, “I am disappointed, and you can be sure this will get my attention.”

European shares also came under pressure Thursday, Oct. 22. The STOXX Europe 600 closed down 1.05% at 637.74 points, while the eurozone banking index fell 4.2%. The banking index's steeper decline put the sector among the day's weakest performers. Higher oil prices and rising French bond yields added pressure to market sentiment.

Cross expects roughly 4,000 further workforce reductions by year-end, completing the timeline for the 2026 estimate.