Barclays is preparing to axe up to 2,000 jobs in a £1bn cost-cutting drive aimed at boosting the lender’s profits.

The redundancy plans, which emerged on Thursday night, are likely to impact employees in departments such as legal, HR and compliance – rather than customer-facing branch staff or investment bankers.

The shake-up will cement a push by Barclays chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan to strip costs from the business and satisfy City demands to boost its flagging share price.

The division expected to be targeted by cuts is known internally as Barclays Execution Services, with digitisation leaving many roles surplus to requirements.

Barclays currently employs about 87,000 people across the globe, with 44,000 workers in the UK.

Venkatakrishnan, known as Venkat, flagged plans to restructure the bank’s spending bill last month but failed to spell out the exact nature of the cost-cutting actions.

At the time, he said: “In every part of the bank, there are things we can do better.”

Shares in Barclays have slid 15pc so far this year due to declining profits, which has triggered calls for Venkat to revive the lender’s fortunes.

City analysts had been expecting between £500m and £1.5bn of costs to be trimmed.

Benjamin Toms, analyst at RBC, said: “They had already told us the cost plan but what they didn’t tell us was how large or what the benefit would be.

“What we appear to have got now is the other side of that initial announcement, which will be useful for investors as they start to map out the size of the potential structural cost actions.

“The big question now is how long it takes for the benefits of the cost reduction to be bigger than the initial outlay.”

The looming job cuts are likely to be accompanied by a reduction in Barclays’ office space, which will also lower costs.

The bank is expected to give further details of the job cuts, which were first reported by Reuters, when it publishes its full-year results in February.

Barclays had previously warned investors of “material” cuts as part of a looming strategic review.

According to its latest financials, costs are not rising at the bank but remain steady – meaning further savings could boost shareholder value.

Barclays is one of the few UK-based lenders that operates an investment bank in the US, putting it in competition with Wall Street rivals for talent and resources.

Recent results show profits at Barclays have slid while UK deposits have also dropped.

The bank’s so-called net interest margin, the difference between what they charge borrowers and pay savers, has also shrunk.

Venkat’s overhaul would mark one of his biggest moves since he took the helm of the bank in 2021. The 57-year-old was previously chief risk officer.

One of Barclays’ main US rivals, Citigroup, also recently unveiled plans to streamline operations by cutting jobs, underscoring the intense pressure some banks are facing to remain competitive.

Although Barclays has shied away from using the word restructuring for Venkat’s plans, the forthcoming shake-up is likely to mean fewer admin roles in the future.

The prospect of job cuts comes after Barclays also announced that 16 more of its bank branches will close in early 2024

Barclays declined to comment.