German lender Commerzbank has announced plans to axe 3,900 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions by 2028, primarily within Germany.
The move is part of the bank’s strategic revamp as Italy’s UniCredit vies for a buyout.
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However, Commerzbank will also make hires outside Germany, which will keep the group-wide headcount constant at 36,700.
In a media release, the bank stated: “With approximately 3,300 FTEs this affects mainly central staff functions and operations in Germany. At the same time, there will be an increase in staffing in selected areas, such as the international locations and at mBank.”
Commerzbank plans to execute the job reductions by mainly relying on demographic changes and natural workforce fluctuations.
This year, the bank will introduce an early partial retirement programme as part of its approach, a strategy to minimise disruption for remaining employees.
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By GlobalDataThese key principles have already been agreed upon in a joint transformation agreement with employee unions, the bank said.
Furthermore, the bank also plans to hire in Poland and other cost-effective locations, while exploring targeted acquisitions and strategic partnerships, Reuters reported.
For several months, Commerzbank’s management, led by CEO Bettina Orlopp, is said to have been preparing this strategy update, which is intended to demonstrate the “significant value potential” of the bank.
Commerzbank, said to be Germany’s second-largest bank, is partly state-owned and has described Italian bank UniCredit’s overtures as hostile.
The bank anticipates incurring €700m in restructuring charges before tax effects in 2025.
It has also raised some of its financial targets for 2027, including a net profit goal of €3.8bn, up from the previous €3.6bn, and a cost-to-income ratio target of 53%, more ambitious than the former 54%.
Following a better-than-expected 20% rise in full-year net profit, the bank is eager to take its performance to the next level, Orlopp stated.
In contrast to Commerzbank’s focused approach, other European banks, such as ING, are considering larger-scale acquisitions.
UniCredit’s CEO Andrea Orcel has been open about his interest in merging with Commerzbank, but he has not dismissed the possibility of abandoning the pursuit.
Commerzbank’s management, workforce, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are said to have opposed the takeover.
In December 2024, UniCredit entered new financial instruments pertaining to additional shares in Commerzbank, raising its stake in the latter to 28%.
Germany opposed the move, calling it “uncoordinated and unfriendly”.
