RBS to cut 4,500 jobs
ROYAL Bank of Scotland said today it planned to cut 4,500 UK jobs over the next two years.
The axe will fall on non-customer facing staff in the division known as group manufacturing, which is responsible for processing documents, IT, procurement and bank property.
Consultation has begun with unions today.
RBS, which has had to be rescued from near collapse by the government, did not say where the jobs would be lost, although as a major employer in the North West, with a total workforce of 13,000, there is likely to be some impact.
The bank stressed that the actual number of jobs lost is expected to be “significantly lower” than 4,500 and that a redeployment programme had already identified 650 new job opportunities in the UK.
The plan, which involves a number of other cost-saving initiatives including moving to a common technology platform, will help RBS achieve its target of reducing annual costs by £2.5bn within the next three years.
Chief executive Stephen Hester, said: ‘We have set a new strategy for RBS to restore the bank to standalone strength as soon as practicable. From this we want the government to be able to realise value from its investment in RBS.
“To do so we need to cut our costs, as in all businesses, given the current recession. Unfortunately that means taking difficult decisions about jobs as well as taking many other cost reduction actions.”
