Barclays may remove 2,000 workers, mainly in its back office, to save 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion).

Barclays executives, known as Venkat, are considering profitability-boosting recommendations.

The main target for reduction is Barclays Execution Services (BX), part of a group-wide goal to decrease costs by up to 1 billion pounds over several years.

BX consolidated support activities for the bank’s two main business divisions, UK retail banking and overseas, to reduce duplication and adopt post-crisis risk management.

Barclays’ 1 billion pound cost-saving aim is 7% of its 15 billion pound operational expenses in 2022.

Venkat must improve Barclays’ falling book value before presenting a new strategy to investors in February.