Barclays To Axe 5,000 Jobs As Britain's Youth Employment Crisis Deepens

Bloomberg cites a Barclays corporate presentation saying the bank is cutting 5,000 jobs as it pushes ahead with cost-cutting measures and adopts artificial intelligence to improve efficiency.

The reductions would affect about 5% of the bank's workforce. The London-based lender employed about 93,000 people globally at the end of 2025, according to Bloomberg data.

Barclays said it was "structurally reducing" costs to "generate capacity for investment." The presentation also touched on organizational simplification and greater efficiency, supported by AI.

Separately, a Bloomberg report says that technology and finance jobs for young people in the UK have fallen sharply.

Payroll jobs for young people in information and communication have plummeted 30% between the end of 2022 and the end of 2025, according to Boston Consulting Group data. Finance jobs for the same age group fell 10%. Combined, the two sectors - that is, about a decline of 45,000 jobs - left about 163,000 employed. 

Young folks "are being squeezed out of some of the UK's most important sectors," said Raoul Ruparel, senior director at BCG's Center for Growth, as companies grow more reluctant to hire young workers. 

"AI may be playing a part, but it's unlikely to be the whole story," Ruparel said. "Much of the fall happened in 2023 and 2024, before today's more capable AI tools. A post-pandemic tech downturn and remote working, which makes juniors har