Staff at UK banks are being laid off in the run-up to Christmas, which one labor group described as "disgraceful" timing.
Struggling Metro Bank announced on Thursday that it plans to reduce employment by 20% to save £50 million (Ksh.9.7 billion) every year.
The announcement, which will affect approximately 800 positions, comes on the same day Lloyds disclosed plans to lay off some employees and follows news earlier this week that Barclays is laying off 900 people across its UK operations.
Metro Bank, the first rival to Britain's traditional high-street banks, is also reconsidering its unusual strategy of keeping branches open seven days a week.
The lender's stock rose more than 3% on Thursday, although it is still down 67% this year.
"We remain committed to stores and the high street, but we will transition to a more cost-efficient business model while remaining focused on customer service," said CEO Daniel Frumkin.
However, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at stockbroker IG, said Metro Bank's attraction would "sorely diminish" if it became more like the major banks it intended to replace.
"Far from being a serious challenger to the UK's established banks, Metro continues to flounder," he stated in an e-mail.
Banks in the United Kingdom are far from the only significant employers cutting staff as Christmas approaches. Citigroup, Charles Schwab, Vice Media, car parts manufacturer Continental, and shipping giant Maersk were among the companies that announced job losses in November alone.
Barclays alerted 900 employees in the United Kingdom of redundancy earlier this week, according to labor union Unite. Based on 2022 figures, that equates to 2% of the bank's UK staff.
A Barclays spokeswoman stated that there would be "changes" in headcount due to increasing automation and fewer "management layers" but did not specify how many jobs would be lost.
"We are taking a number of actions to simplify and reshape the business, improve service and deliver higher returns," a spokeswoman said.
Unite called the decision to lay off workers so close to Christmas "disgraceful."
"With jobs at risk, workers face real concerns about how their families will cope as food and fuel prices rise," said Dominic Hook, national industrial coordinator for Unite.
Meanwhile, Lloyds will eliminate certain posts as part of adjustments targeted at accomplishing the goal it announced in February 2022, even as it hires for data and technology positions.
"Making big changes means not only creating new roles and upskilling colleagues in some parts of the business, but also having to say goodbye to talented colleagues who have been a part of the group's success in the past," a spokeswoman said in a statement, without saying how many positions will be affected and in which business areas.
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