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.