Barclays to 'weed out' deadwood

Updated on: 16 January,2009 09:42 AM IST |
Savie Karnel |

The layoff axe is likely to fall on Barclays' Indian employees too

The layoff axe is likely to fall on Barclays' Indian employees too. An internal mail had cautioned employees in India stating that they need to 'weed out' non-performers to keep the 'ship afloat'.

On Wednesday, Barclays announced it would layoff 2,100 employees globally. Bankersball.com reported on Thursday that 2000 more layoffs would be added to the earlier number. The Indian numbers were not clear.

When MiD DAY contacted Barclays' office in Mumbai, it refused to comment. The internal mail sent to MiD DAY by the employees suggest that axe would be wielded on India employees too. In a mail to the staff, Samir Bhatia, managing director India & Indian Ocean Global Retail & Commercial Bank, Barclays Bank, said, "We need to cut costs and improve insurance sales drastically. We need to be making more money. Remove unproductive people and weed out old unprofitable accounts."

Sanjay Durante, head retail liabilities and branch banking, said, "We need to weed out non-performers immediately. Please do not be emotional. These are trying times and we need to keep our ship afloat."

The employees who contacted MiD DAY were upset with the news of the layoffs and hurt by the words used in the mail. "Is this the way they motivate their.u00a0 Sanjay Durante's use of phrases like 'weed out' is not acceptable," asked an employee.