DUBLIN: Bank of Ireland has agreed a voluntary redundancy scheme with employees which their trade union said would pave the way for up to 1,000 more job cuts at Ireland's largest bank.
The bank has already reduced its workforce by around 20 percent since the country's property crash in 2008, is in the midst of a sector-wide overhaul that will see it cut its balance sheet by 30 billion euros by the end of 2013.
Chief Executive Richie Boucher said in February that the bank would be look at making efficiency gains for a "long, long time" and a spokeswoman for the bank said it had not identified an exact number of employees it expected to take the package.
The Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA), the trade union representing the bank's employees, said in a statement that it would recommend the terms to its members for acceptance.
In an email sent to staff seen by Reuters, the bank said it would offer three weeks base pay per year of service for employees in specific areas affected by cuts, plus relevant statutory payments to a maximum of 225,000 euros.
Early retirees will be given an ex-gratia payment of nine months salary while those within five years of retirement can, on a selective basis, avail of a voluntary early leaving scheme that would see them receive a lump sum payment.
"As the group remains focused on its necessary task to restructure and reposition ourselves the overall number of people which we need to employ will regrettably reduce," Boucher said in the email sent to staff on Friday.
As well as shrinking its business through the asset sales and redemptions required as part of the country's EU/IMF bailout, Boucher said in February that the bank would spend 90 million euros between 2010 and 2013 on bringing in efficiencies through the use of e-banking and automatic payment systems.
The bank's main rival, state-owned Allied Irish Banks , said in March it would make aggressive cost cuts on top of the 2,500 jobs losses outlined earlier that month, while Royal Bank of Scotland also axed 950 jobs at troubled Irish unit Ulster Bank this year.
Bank of Ireland, the only Irish lender to avoid nationalisation after a group of North American investors came to its rescue last year, had 13,200 employees at the end of last year, down from a peak of over 16,000 at the height of the country's property boom in 2008.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.