Technology jobs continue to go from financial services sector

RBS, which is now 70 per cent owned by the British government after its record £24bn loss, outlined plans in April to cut 9,000 jobs by 2011, more than half of which will be in the UK, as it attempts to save £2.5bn over three years. The latest announcement of 700 IT jobs to go is the first time that details of where positions are to go have been given. Jobs will go across the country but the London and Edinburgh offices will be particularly hard hit as the bank downsizes.

The RBS announcement follows on from UBS who earlier unveiled that it is to lose 8,700 jobs worldwide, with Switzerland and the US in the vanguard for cuts. The 7,000 employees presently in the UK, mainly based around Broadgate arena in London, are also likely to loose positions however, as the bank seeks to concentrate only on profitable areas and repair its capital ratios post-crunch.

Barclays is shedding 700 IT jobs from its global retail and commercial banking division, half of which were previously unveiled last year – the extra 350 lost positions have recently been unveiled. The move is part of Barclays’ policy to streamline its technology function, which is happening underneath the auspices of its extensive Global Infrastructure and Service Delivery programme.

Lloyds Banking Group is to cut another 510 jobs and close a customer services centre in Chatham, Kent. The shutting of the Chatham operation will cause 190 job to go, with another 320 positions going as Lloyds shrinks its regulated sales and mortgage network. The latest job losses come on top of 625 cuts already announced by the bank recently. In total, Lloyds has shed approximately 3,000 jobs since its merger with its over-extended high street rival Halifax Bank Of Sscotland. Late last year, the bank set a target of £1.5 billion in annual savings from the consolidation of technology, branch closures and job cuts as part of its merger programme with HBOS.

The deepest cut at Lloyds was announced on 9 June however, when the group unveiled that it is to close all of its 164 Cheltenham & Gloucester branches, adding another 1,000 lost positions to its 3,000 redunancies. From November 2009 onwards the branches will begin to close with the lose of another 833 full-time banking jobs. The personal loans business is being overhauled as well, with the closure of the Chester Office and consolidation in London leading to a further 265 lost jobs. The C&G name will be kept for mortgages and savings but in future customers will be expected to use LloydsTSB branches to meet their needs. Lloyds Banking Group said the job losses were "regrettable" but the move seemed inevitable as part of its cost-cutting exercise as it seeks to absorp HBOS' losses and integrate its expanded banking operations in the UK.