Barclays PLC (LSE:BARC) could reportedly save more than £200mln annually after opting to pause payments into its employee pension scheme, despite the scheme’s assets losing £10bn in value over the past year.
According to the Guardian, its “contribution holiday” means that the pension scheme will now be responsible for payments that the bank would have made for retired staff’s retirement benefits, sparking criticism among some ex-employees.
The scheme’s annual payouts are currently capped at 5%, even though inflation is currently above 10%.
Barclays has the discretion to award higher increases but is understood to be keeping this arrangement under review. Barclays Bank UK Retirement Fund has roughly 213,000 members, the paper said.
And a newsletter sent to them revealed that its assets were valued at £27.2bn on 30 September 2022, compared to £37.2bn a year earlier, the Guardian added.