Italian banking group UniCredit is set to slash 6,000 jobs and shutter 450 branches in Italy as part of a three-year restructuring under CEO Jean Pierre Mustier.
The plan to 2023 originally involved 8,000 redundancies and 500 branch closures.
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The move was aimed at improving operational efficiency amidst negative interest rates.
Commenting on the plan, the Italian lender said at that time: “They are based on a realistic set of macroeconomic assumptions, being more conservative than those assumed by the market.”
However, the country’s banking unions soon condemned the bank for the move, saying that they expected 5,500 redundancies and closure of a maximum of 450 branches.
The revised plan goes with the 6,000 lay-offs, of which 500 are part of an earlier plan, as well as 450 branch closures, according to Reuters.
Some of the lay-offs will be made through early retirements.
The banking unions, including FABI and Uilca, have lambasted the move.
Banking union Uilca general secretary Fulvio Furlan was quoted by Bloomberg as saying: “Unions are strongly against the job and branch cuts plan,”
“Discussions with unions must lead to solutions that limit the job cuts and include a plan of new hirings.”
On the other hand, FABI demanded new hiring to offset the downsizing exercise.
“UniCredit continues to have an unacceptable attitude,” Reuters quoted FABI head Lando Maria Sileoni as saying.
