Italian banking giant UniCredit is reportedly planning to slash 950 full-time positions in the country as part of its new plan.
The lender plans to carry out these cuts, which will focus on central offices, by retiring people, Reuters reported citing unions.
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The redundancies will be made using an industry fund that allows employees to retire up to seven years before pension age.
In this case, employees retiring latest by April 2028, can use the fund, the unions said adding that buyout packages will also be used.
UniCredit unveiled its new growth plan for 2022-2024 last week. At the time the lender did not disclose the number of job cuts.
Notably, the lender has started formal talks on redundancies with banking unions Fabi, First Cisl, Cgil Fisac, Uilca and Unisin.
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By GlobalDataThe discussions could take up to 50 days as per Italian rules.
UniCredit employs around 87,000 people and Italy accounts for 44% of its workforce.
Earlier this month, media reports emerged that the lender plans to axe around 3,000 jobs in Italy and foreign markets as part of the 2022-2024 plan.
Under the bank’s 2019 plan, unions agreed to 5,200 voluntary layoffs, which entailed a total of 8,000 redundancies.
The redundancies will be compensated by 3,600 new hires over the course of the new plan, of which, 2,100 are for digital and data and the remaining 1,500 for business growth.
UniCredit has also planned to return €16bn to investors through a combination of cash dividends and share buybacks till 2024.
