Barclays has told its IT staff it is planning to shed more jobs this year as part of its drive to reduce spending.

The warning came from the bank’s IT management today and forecasts that the axe will fall on a further 700 staff this year.

Barclays is in talks with workers union Unite over the redundancies.

In January, Barclays said it would eliminate 400 permanent and temporary jobs in IT. Shortly afterwards, Bob Rickert, chief information officer for global retail and commercial banking, handed in his notice.

At the time of the latest job cuts announcement, the firm said the redundancies were motivated by the need to review its operations and resources to continue functioning and the process involved avoiding duplication of roles. Last year, the bank said it intends to lay off 1,800 employees by 2011.

Earlier this month, Unite said the financial services industry is setting itself up for trouble when the upturn comes if the redundancy tide in the sector continues to rise.

"Unite is infuriated that banks and insurance companies are failing to recognise the damage that will be done to their businesses if they continue to simply slash thousands of staff each month," said Unite's national officer Rob MacGregor.

"Without these highly trained and experienced people, there is no chance that the UK will be able to rebuild its reputation as a world-class industry."