Société Générale to cut 900 positions at Paris headquarters in elimination of “hierarchical layers”
Banking group Société Générale is cutting around 900 positions at its head office in Paris, France, as part of its plans to “gradually and significantly” improve its income-to-cost ratio.
Société Générale to cut 900 positions at head office
The group says its job cuts aim to “group and pool” certain functions performed by its head office following a process review, while simultaneously eliminating “hierarchical layers” to streamline its decision-making.
The cuts – which are expected to affect approximately 5% of its head office staff “without forced departures” – are part of a new strategic roadmap unveiled by Société Générale last September, which it hopes will result in close to €1.7 billion in gross savings by 2026.
The group claims to have already realised €700 million in cost savings by merging its two retail banking networks in France last month to form SG Bank, as well as digitising activities at its Czech banking subsidiary Komerční banka, and integrating LeasePlan, the fleet management and mobility company it acquired last May, into its global mobility brand Ayvens.
With its action plan in sight, Société Générale has joined a growing list of financial services firms to announce job reductions as a means to initiate cost savings in recent weeks.
It follows San Francisco-based payment solutions specialist Block’s recent announcement that it would axe “a large number” of positions across its Cash App, Square and foundational teams, while PayPal simultaneously announced its plans to trim 9% of its workforce this year in an effort to “right-size our business”.
