BARCLAYS bank has announced 234 jobs will go at its Coventry Westwood Business Park office.
It comes among 460 job cuts in the West Midlands region, primarily affecting Coventry and Birmingham.
The bank says many employees at the business park on Longford Close will be transferred to other offices in Manchester, Glasgow and Northampton.
Major union Unite, which represents staff at Barclays, has expressed its dismay at the news.
Unite is hopeful that in those locations colleagues there will be redeployed, in many cases, into more senior roles.
A bank spokesperson said in reality it’s only a reduction of around 50 roles, with 400 to be relocated.
A Barclays spokesperson said: “In order to best serve our customers and clients Barclays is moving teams closer together at our core UK sites in Glasgow, Greater Manchester and Northampton; where we are investing in new campuses and office space.
“Today we have announced that a number of operations and technology roles are relocating within the UK.
“We are not reducing the number of jobs overall, except in a few cases of duplication, and we will remain a significant employer in both Coventry and Birmingham.”
Unite national officer Dominic Hook said: “This staff reduction programme is extremely alarming for the workforce at Barclays. “Unite is very clear that the decision to cut around 460 jobs will result in a large number of compulsory redundancies which will bring a noticeable impact on customer service across Barclays.
“This is even more alarming in light of 170 staff from Fraud Operations being cut in Coventry last year.
“Unite is in discussion with Barclays regarding its future site strategy in order to gain vital clarity and job security for the workforce.”
Unite says it will have representatives on site today across the country to provide support, guidance and, where needed, representation to members who are at risk of redundancy.
