Barclays in Singapore looks set to take at least a 15% share of the 1,000 global job cuts that the bank announced last month.
It was always certain that many of the redundancies would be in Asia as Barclays shuttered its investment bank in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand – but until recently details of Barclays’ job cuts in Singapore remained sketchy. Now a report in the Straits Times has helped shine some light.
An anonymous employee of the British bank in Singapore told the newspaper that 70 people were laid off in January and another 30 to 40 front-office staff will be culled in both March and May, taking the total to between 130 and 150. There will be layoffs in operations too, although the numbers are less certain. “In the next few months, the bank will shrink its finance back office which currently has about 250 people,” says the banker.
His redundancy predictions are broadly in line with those of a recruiter we spoke to last week who said Barclays in Singapore would let go of “about 150 to 200” staff across the back and front office.
Where might these people end up working? DBS, OCBC and UOB will all add headcount in Singapore this year, even as the local economy slows, reports the Today newspaper. But DBS is focusing its recruitment on the usual suspects – technology and operations, finance, risk and compliance – suggesting that front-office bankers from Barclays may struggle to find work at the Singaporean firms.
If you’ve lost your equities job at Barclays in Hong Kong, click here to read our guide to current career alternatives.
Meanwhile:
Six sought after Asian banking jobs in the Year of the Monkey (eFinancialCareers)
Yak Yew Chee, a senior private banker at BSI in Singapore, is caught up in Singapore’s money laundering probe linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd. (Reuters)
HSBC suddenly drops plan for 2016 pay freeze. (Channel News Asia)
A massive banking crisis is brewing in Singapore, says Swiss billionaire Zulauf. (SBR)
ANZ abandons Asia-Pacific earnings target. (AFR)
UOB chiefs roll up their sleeves for charity. (Asia One)
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