Humans will have to go as Bank of America gears up to go digital
Bank of America gears up for major layoffs. Picture source: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton
Bank of America is shrinking its consumer banking division by 8,000 people as it prepares to go digital.
The bank has already considerably reduced the staffing numbers: from 100,000 in 2009 to 68,400 in Q1 2016. Thong Nguyen, Bank of America’s president of retail banking and co-head of consumer banking, expects the numbers to go down to “the low 60s”.
Bank of America is transforming its retail financial centres into digital ones, hence the job cuts, although no timeframe have been announced for these reductions.
Earlier this year, there were reports that Bank of America is preparing big layoffs across its investment banking and trading divisions.
The bank joins other top tier financial institutions in its job- and cost-cutting spree.
HSBC’s restructuring plan that will see 8,000 jobs terminated by the end of 2017 in the UK, around 850 of IT-related roles among them.
Lloyds Banking Group is to cut 625 jobs – as it continues another wave of its 9,000 job reductions announced a few years ago.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is cutting almost 600 jobs in its UK retail bank, angering the British and Irish trade union Unite.
Last year, Deutsche Bank announced it would shed 9,000 full-time staff and 6,000 external contractor jobs in its global technology and operations infrastructure as it sets out to “modernise its outdated and fragmented IT architecture” and improve control systems.
And earlier this year, Deutsche Bank unveiled its plans to reduce its retail outlets in Germany from 700 to 500, as it looks to lower costs and adapt to digital banking.
