CBI predicts 10,000 financial sector job losses

by Gill Montia

Story link: CBI predicts 10,000 financial sector job losses

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is predicting that over 10,000 jobs could be lost in the UK financial sector in the three months from the beginning of March.

Those most likely to be made redundant include securities traders and bankers based in the City.

In its latest Financial Services Survey, the Confederation has revealed that the sector has seen its biggest drop in business volumes, numbers of staff employed and profitability, in five years.

Ian McCafferty, CBI chief economic adviser, says: “This is a very serious crisis … it is not the collapse of a single financial institution, but a long-term issue and it will be some time before markets return to normal.”

The survey, which was undertaken by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), also states that bank volumes fell more quickly in the three months to early March than at any time since September 1991.

According to Andrew Gray, head of UK banking advisory at PWC, “Banks are increasingly concerned about the economic outlook for the second half of 2008 and markets remain fragile.”