Barclays job cuts are underway and include shunting EAs to India

Having said it was going to cut 200 jobs, Barclays is promptly doing just that. Sources at the firm say the cuts are underway today and that a lot of jobs appear to be going.

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They include various people on the London trading floor, particularly in credit. They also include swathes of executive assistants whose jobs are reportedly being offshored to India.

Markets headhunters in London said "tonnes" of jobs appear to be going, and that the cuts are not restricted to the investment banking team (and the EAs). They include at least one popular trader recruited from Credit Suisse three years ago. In New York, Sebastian Vargas, the head of Latin American sovereign credit strategy, is thought to have vanished.

Barclays declined to comment and did not confirm any names. 

Sources in Barclays' investment bank said the exits there seemed comparatively senior. "From what I can see, they are mostly directors," suggested one associate. 

The cuts are part of Barclays "Project Minerva" restructuring initiative as it seeks to shave £700m ($942m) from its cost base. Unlike HSBC, which recently dismissed people by video call, Barclays' cuts are mostly happening face to face. 

Barclays is being helped along the way by exits. Hedge fund Balyasny, for example, has hired Barclays' head of euro swaps trading. Sources at the bank said people there were burned by poor bonuses two years ago and have been leaving of their own volition.

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