RBS to axe 3,700 jobs

Published on Monday 2 November 2009 17:17

THE Royal Bank of Scotland is to cut 3,700 jobs across its UK branch network in a bid to modernise the way the bank operates, the company said today.

The redundancies follow a strategic review of the bank and will take effect from May next year.

The Unite union angrily denounced the job losses calling them "absolute madness".

The announcement comes as plans to break up Edinburgh-based RBS and Lloyds Banking Group following orders from the European Commission are set to be revealed tomorrow.

The duo have been told to sell off parts of their business to safeguard competition concerns as the price of State support.

The bank said that workers in branches were doing 30% more administration work than competitors and changes needed to be made to focus more on customer service.

Brian Hartzer, CEO, UK Retail, Wealth Management and Ulster Bank Group, said: "We need to do better for all our customers and shareholders by modernising the way we operate as a bank.

"We have 30% more staff carrying out administrative duties per customer than our competitors and they spend less than half their time dealing with customers – we can and must do better.

"We have under-invested in our branches and customer infrastructure at a time when people are changing how they bank and changing what they expect their bank to do for them. We have to change that if we are to rebuild our success by serving our customers better.

"The job losses this means are deeply regrettable but are necessary. We don't like what that means for our people but will do all we can to ensure compulsory redundancies are kept to an absolute minimum.

"We'll look to mitigate the impact on our people by firstly seeking volunteers for redundancy, providing opportunities for flexible working and job-sharing as well as seeking redeployment opportunities where possible."

Unite national officer, Rob MacGregor, said: "For RBS to announce the cut of 3,700 frontline bank staff from their high street branches across the UK is absolute madness. Essentially RBS has decided that frontline costs should be cut, to fund the crisis caused by the City bankers.

"This move to reduce frontline clerical branch staff by up to a third is short-sighted in the extreme, high street banks are busier then ever as customers increasingly seek a trusted friendly local service.

"The union is angry that this majority taxpayer-owned bank has totally misjudged the public's appetite for a return to traditional banking.

"RBS is clearly attempting to force customers to use automated services and the internet in order to do their banking, just to make short-term financial savings.

"Unite believes that nothing compares to the personal, customer experience received from a bank worker. The management should re-think this announcement and not force people to use an inferior banking service.

"Unite view this cost-cutting exercise as damaging to customer service across both RBS and Natwest brands.

"The staff hit by this decision will be amongst the lowest paid within RBS, some of the longest serving and most loyal who have worked in the local branch network for many years.

"Real questions must be answered by management about how they expect to give customers the high quality, personalised service they currently enjoy from their local branch after they pull out staff in every community across the UK."