Banking job losses
So France’s SocGen announced that it is going to cut 1,600 jobs as part of cost-cutting efforts following continued poor trading performance.
The investment bank will bear the brunt most acutely with 1,200 losses targeted – 750 of which will be in France and the rest in London and New York – and the bank will continue to focus on equity derivatives and structured finance.
It is going to close its commodities and proprietary trading business and reorganise its fixed income division.
SocGen is currently negotiating with unions but expects to complete the cuts by the third quarter.
It’s not the only bank to suffer, though, as Barclays also announced job cuts – mainly in operations and technology – but UBS, JP Morgan and BNP Paribas are also suffering from similar problems.
High street shop shutdowns
Then there was some research published by PwC but compiled by the Local Data Company which showed record highs for high street shop closures last year and record lows for shop openings resulting in the biggest ever full year net decline.
Banks, estate agents and recruitment agencies were hardest hit but then the number of sports and health clubs, bookshops, ice cream parlours, vaping shops and cake shops grew.
I don’t think that these figures will surprise anyone greatly but it would suggest to me that our high street could possibly be becoming more diverse as consumers seek out products and experiences that can’t easily be replicated online.
