Uk's banking giant, Barclays has said that it is planning to cut thousands of investment bankers' jobs in a move to revive its division.

The bank faced criticism as it announced an increase in bonus for its senior executives. Barclays bank is planning to offer higher bonuses to senior executives at the investment bank even as the revenues fell during the year. Chief executive Antony Jenkins and the board have approved a hike in bonuses even as the unit's revenues fell. Jenkins, the head of the Barclays bank has turned down the bonus offering from the bank for 2013 as the bank faced costs relating to the scandals.

Barclays is planning to close a quarter of its branches and cut hundreds of jobs in the investment banking division in the United Kingdom. The banking giant, which is controlled by the British government, has said that it is planning to open branches in Asda stores under a new pilot project while closing nearby outlets. The new job cuts will be above the 3,700 layoffs announced in the previous year. Following the pilot project, the bank will replace about 400 branches with smaller outlets in Asda supermarkets.

The job cut will affect 820 senior managers, of which 220 will be at managing director level and 600 will be in the grade of director.