Lloyds bank will axe a further 625 jobs in the UK, provoking “fury” among the country’s biggest trade union, Unite.
Lloyds Banking Group announced today it would need to cut 625 jobs, on top of the thousands of cuts already made since the start of the year. The cuts will take place mainly in the Group’s wholesale banking division, as the bank re-structures its operations to meet the needs of the market.
In April, Lloyds announced it would cut almost 1,000 jobs from its car financing division, including a centre in Speke, Liverpool, where more than 30% of the population were already out of work.
Rob McGregor, Unite National Officer urged the company to “come clean” about redundancy plans for the year rather than announce “weekly” job cuts.
“Unite is furious that the Lloyds Banking Group has again announced several hundred job losses today,” he said. “This latest decision to announce 625 job losses appears to suggest that the bank is embarking on a strategy of ‘death by a thousand cuts’.
“The union will not accept a situation where the Lloyds Banking Group makes weekly announcements of hundreds of job losses. Staff must be told the company’s plans for the future of the organisation and not be left with the uncertainty that they could be the next to lose their jobs.”
All impacted colleagues were briefed by their line manager this morning. A company statement, seen by Personnel Today, said: “The changes being announced today will result in the loss of 625 full-time jobs split broadly evenly between Scotland and England & Wales.”
However, the firm said more than 300 new jobs had already been identified within the wholesale division as part of restructuring process. “Impacted colleagues will be considered for these new roles,” the statement said.
Those affected by redundancies will leave the Group by the end of this year. Philip Grant, chief operating officer within Lloyds Banking Group’s Wholesale Division, said: “We will seek to make these changes by using natural turnover and redeployment wherever possible.”
Unite said 20,000 finance jobs have been lost in the first four months of the year, including 2,500 at Lloyds.
