Newcastle Building Society has slashed 150 jobs as the employment carnage continues.
The firm – which last year boasted it would create 500 jobs over five years – blamed the redundancies on “expected difficult trading conditions in 2009”.
Jobs will be lost in most areas of the business, with the majority being cut from the society’s head offices in Newcastle. This comes as a further blow to the region after car maker Nissan announced plans to cut 1,200 jobs in Sunderland.
Newcastle Building Society chief executive Colin Seccombe said: “After creating some 200 new jobs through 2008, we are extremely disappointed to have to make these redundancies, which are a direct result of the unprecedented downturn in the financial markets that we, and most other financial institutions, are experiencing.”
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Trade union Unite demanded a meeting with the building society.
Regional officer David Isbell said: “Staff at Newcastle Building Society will be devastated to hear the news of 150 job cuts. Following the announcement by Nissan, this ends a dark week for workers across the North East.”
