Bank of England staff are facing an uncertain Christmas as job cuts begin under a £45million savings drive.
The Bank has written to the majority of its 5,700 employees inviting them to apply for voluntary layoffs as it looks to achieve 8 per cent savings in its day-to-day budget.
That could imply hundreds are to go – though the Mail understands that a specific number is not being targeted.
Compulsory job cuts are not being ruled out should the voluntary programme fall short.
The Bank wrote to staff last week and is accepting resignations until January, with workers expected to depart come March.
Those who choose to leave are being offered a payout of 10 per cent of salary multiplied by their number of years’ service, capped at a maximum of two years’ salary or £150,000 – whichever is lower.
Job cuts: The Bank of England, led by governor Andrew Bailey (pictured) has written to the majority of its 5,700 employees inviting them to apply for voluntary layoffs
Costs at the Bank have come under strain after an overhaul which was sparked by a review by Ben Bernanke, former head of the US Federal Reserve.
The Bank is also facing cost pressures as it seeks to update its tech infrastructure.
A spokesman said: ‘The Bank manages its budget in order to deliver on its statutory objectives to maintain monetary and financial stability.
‘We are now implementing a significant, multi-year transformation of our operations and this will condition our decisions.
‘We are therefore running a mutually agreed, time-limited scheme for staff to choose to apply to leave the Bank.
‘We are committed to ensuring the Bank is efficient, resilient and fit for the future.’
Some employees have not been targeted for the job cuts, including those at its Leeds office, where more than 100 work and which the Bank is looking to expand.
Also not affected will be the governors – the top tier of staff who lead the Bank and include £598,000-a-year-governor Andrew Bailey, his four deputies and chief operating officer Sarah John.
Earlier this year, John told the Bank’s directors that an ‘ambitious efficiency target’ would need to be met in order to keep a lid on the increase in the levy it charges to Britain’s financial services firms, according to minutes of the meeting.
At a subsequent gathering she said that ‘efficiency targets were expected to be met but involved difficult trade-offs’.
Staff numbers at the Bank have surged in recent years. In the latest financial year to February 2025, its average number of employees was 5,731 – up from 3,680 a decade earlier. In 2012, it employed fewer than 2,000.
Trade union Unite, which represents employees at the bank, said it ‘will always oppose any compulsory job losses across the financial services sector’, adding that the job-cutting process must be transparent and fair.
The staff cuts come at a tough time for the jobs market with unemployment at 5 per cent – the highest since 2021.
A report yesterday for auditors KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation showed hiring remained ‘on ice’ last month as employers were held back by uncertainty ahead of the Budget.
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