U.K. financial firms may hire in the third quarter after cutting a worse-than-estimated 10,000 jobs in the three months through June, according to the Confederation of British Industry.

Banks, insurers and asset managers may add about 1,000 positions in the coming three months, Britain’s biggest business lobby group and accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said in a study published today. The same survey estimated in April that firms would hire 2,000 jobs in the second quarter.

The reversal comes as lenders including Lloyds Banking Group Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc cut staff to save costs and run down or sell unwanted assets amid tightened regulatory capital requirements. The proportion of banks citing legislation and new rules as a factor limiting expansion in the year ahead “rose notably,” the CBI said.

“After allowing costs to rise in the first quarter of the year, banks are renewing their focus on efficiency and staff numbers are beginning to fall again,” Kevin Burrowes, a partner at PwC, said in the report.
Britain’s four largest lenders will have eliminated about 189,000 jobs by the end of this year from their peak staffing levels, bringing employment to a nine-year low, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The CBI’s survey found 34 per cent more respondents said trading increased in the three months through June and 42 per cent forecast higher sales in the next quarter.
The CBI, based in London and PwC surveyed 94 banks, insurers, customer-owned lenders, investment managers and securities firms from May 20 to June 6.

BLOOMBERG