Commerzbank set to axe up to 6,000 jobs

Commerzbank, Germany's second-largest bank by assets, is set to cut up to 6,000 jobs over the next four years as part of a restructuring overhaul.

Commerzbank, Germany’s second-largest bank by assets, is set to cut up to 6,000 jobs over the next four years as part of a restructuring overhaul.

A spokeswoman for Commerzbank said: "As part of our strategic agenda announced in November, Commerzbank is planning cost savings which will result in a group-wide staff reduction of around 4,000 to 6,000 full-time employees by 2016."

She said the exact reduction rate will be agreed upon in the negotiations with the employee representative committees, with negotiations expected to start in February.

The strategic reorientation announced in November 2012 was in response to higher capital requirements and the sovereign debt crisis.

Chief executive, Martin Blessing, said at the time Commerzbank had to face up to the challenges of the "new normality" in the industry and would seek to "reposition itself both strategically and operationally in the private customers business."

He said massive cuts in personnel were inevitable and pledged the branch network would become more flexible, with the goal of developing a "multi-channel" bank offering customers products and services "anywhere and at anytime".