Barclays, the British bank that is cutting thousands of jobs worldwide, is now hiring in Asia-Pacific to refocus its investment-banking business, according to its co-chief executive for the region. "We have cut jobs," Asia-Pacific co-chief executive Andrew Jones said. "We are hiring to basically fill out the business, and we adopted a new model which is more country-centric." When asked where the firm is hiring, he said Indonesia is a place of "particular focus". The London-based bank is also expanding in capital markets in China and continues to invest in India, he added. He did not give numbers for hiring targets. Chief executive Antony Jenkins announced plans in May to eliminate 7,000 investment-banking jobs globally as revenue from trading fixed income, currencies and commodities shrinks. The plan will bring the number of jobs to be cut across the firm by 2016 to 19,000. "Ultimately, Asia will take its share" of headcount reductions, Jones said. Barclays has undertaken a "very, very big restructuring" in investment banking in Asia, he said. Jones, a former chief operating officer for the region, began his post as co-chief executive in July after Robert Morrice retired. He shares the role with Eiji Nakai.
