Barclays Capital cuts IT contractor rates by 10% ... again

Exclusive Barclays Capital has told IT contractors and temp staff that they have to accept a 10 per cent cut in their rates.

The investment banking division of Barclays Bank told their temporary workers that the cut would come into effect on 5 December and they had until 11 November to let it know if they did not wish to accept the new rate.

"Should you confirm your non-acceptance by Friday 11th November 2011 then please accept this communication as notice on your current assignment at Barclays Capital to finish on Friday 2nd December 2011 or on your current assignment end date if sooner," a communication to the contractors, seen by The Register, said.

As well as the rate cut, the staff have been told they have to take a 10-day holiday before the end of December, although the break can include the Christmas bank holidays.

Barclays Capital declined to comment when contacted by El Reg.

The banking unit told staff it was "re-aligning" its temp rates with the "current market conditions, which have dropped suddenly in Q3 as a result of the majority of our competitors implementing similar initiatives".

At the start of September, The Register reported a similar move from Swiss bank UBS, which in some cases gave its contract staff just a day to decide whether they would accept a 10 per cent reduction in rates or hand in their four-week notice.

It's also not the first time Barclays Capital has adopted this strategy as a way to cut its costs. In 2008, when pretty much all the banks were leaning on their contract staff, BarCap also offered the "take the cut or leave" bit to its temp staff. ®