ABN Amro to cut 15% of its headcount by 2024

Dutch bank ABN Amro confirmed in an update today that it plans to reduce its headcount by 15 percent over the next four years, in a cost-cutting move supposedly precipitated by a focus on more profitable activities within Europe. With about 19,000 staff at present, this works out to more than 2,800 jobs lost. According to the update, most of the job losses will take place from 2022 onwards.

The bank said it plans to reduce the impact on staff through “natural attrition” and reskilling staff into roles where manpower shortages are expected, but did not provide an estimate of how much reskilling might be required. However, it had indicated that it is moving towards heavy digitalization, and at the same time likely pulling back from activities outside the Netherlands and northwestern Europe.

The planned job cuts come less than four months after the bank announced that it would downsize its investment banking division by a third in August, shedding some 800 jobs over the next few years. At the time, ABN Amro had reported a net loss of 5 million euros (US$5.9 million) as the pandemic took a toll on business. The bank's latest results announced earlier in November, however, show a net profit of EUR301 million (US$360 million).