Employment, technology and industrial relations in the UK clearing banks: is the honeymoon over?

Employment in UK retail banking has begun to decline as all the major institutions shed workers. Technological, organizational and market‐driven reasons for the job losses in the major clearing banks are discussed. Irrevocable long‐term changes in employers' industrial relations and human resource strategies are identified as necessary accompaniments to pushing the current retrenchment through in the context of a developing general crisis in employment relations.