Barclays has launched a new ‘campus’ facility in Glasgow, complete with workspace, amenities, and a street food market, in an effort to attract top software engineering talent to the city as part of the new world of hybrid working.
The British lender said it has increased its workforce in the Scottish city by 90% in the last four years and expects to have roughly 5,000 employees at the new location by 2023.
Barclays’ technology, operations, and functions teams will be based in Tradeston, Glasgow, as part of a new global plan to cluster IT professionals in campus sites that mix workspace with other amenities to make them more appealing.
In the United States, in Whippany, New Jersey, and in the Indian city of Pune, the lender has identical locations.
“I’m asked all the time how we’re doing in the competition for talent for investment bankers,” Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley told reporters. “My worry is the war for talent for programmers.”
“These three campuses, particularly Glasgow, were conceived and built to enable Barclays to be at the forefront of re-engineering the financial offering we provide consumers and clients,” he explained.
Glasgow’s attraction stems from the fact that it has the largest number of female managers of any Barclay’s location, according to Staley, partially due to shorter commute times than other cities like London.
As a result, women were able to balance commute with child care.
Despite the fact that Glasgow will become the bank’s main technological hub in the UK, Staley stated that London will continue to serve as the lender’s investment banking and trading hub.
