AIB is laying off around 150 people as the bank continues its cost-cutting drive

AIB IS LAYING off around 150 people in Ireland. The redundancies will be on a voluntary basis and will be spread across the bank’s retail and business banking sections.

The Financial Services Union (FSU) said this evening that any employee who takes voluntary redundancy will be guaranteed a minimum of four weeks’ pay for every year of service.

Bill Barrett, a senior industrial relations officer with the FSU, said that the union is seeking assurances that the redundancies will not add to the already increased workload of employees at the bank.

“While the redundancies are being carried out under agreed terms, the FSU is concerned about the future structures of AIB and the impact on staffing levels across the network,” he said.

The union said the exact number of redundancies is not yet agreed but will be limited to a maximum of 150. The bank is primarily looking to get rid of positions among long-serving staff in its branches and business centres.

Cost cutting

AIB said in a statement that there was “an opportunity for a limited number of staff to avail of voluntary severance and therefore we have decided to open a programme now”.

It added no branch closures or reductions in operating hours were expected to come with the change.

AIB is owned almost entirely (99.8%) by the state after the bank had to be bailed out with €21 billion during the depths of the financial crisis.

It reported pre-tax profits of €1 billion for the first six months of this year and said it would repay some €1.8 billion to taxpayers.

The lender has been on a cost-cutting drive in recent years, reducing its overall headcount by 500 in the year to June. It currently employes around 10,000 people across all operations.

Written by Christine Bohan and posted on TheJournal.ie. Additional reporting Peter Bodkin.