Yahoo Finance Lloyds Banking group to cut 305 jobs and close 49 branches across UK
Lloyds Banking Group has said it is cutting a further 305 jobs as part of its plans to axe 49 branches across the UK.
The company said it was cutting a total of 1,230 roles, but would then create 925 jobs throughout the business. The group first revealed the branch closures last year, but at the time announced plans to cut fewer than 100 jobs.
A spokesperson for the lender said on Tuesday: “The changes in roles are in line with our plan to adapt to and meet the changing needs of our customers and as a result we are also today announcing the creation of 925 new roles.
“The group’s policy is always to use natural turnover and to redeploy people wherever possible to retain their expertise and knowledge within the group.”
The spokesperson added: “Since 2011, over 90 per cent of role reductions have been achieved through a combination of natural attrition, redeployment and voluntary redundancy. Where it is necessary for employees to leave the company, we will look to achieve this by offering voluntary redundancy. Compulsory redundancies will always be a last resort.
“Today’s announcement involves making difficult decisions, and we are committed to working through these changes in a careful and sensitive way. All affected employees have been briefed by their line manager. Accord and Unite were consulted prior to this announcement and will continue to be consulted.”
Lloyds Bank's decision comes weeks after the group posted its largest yearly profit in more than 10 years.
Unite national officer Rob MacGregor said the union was concerned that the bank’s “pattern” of job losses signalled “further difficult times for the bank’s workforce”.
“Thousands of Lloyds Banking Group employees have either been made redundant or transferred elsewhere through outsourcing. Since the creation of the new group in the teeth of the financial crisis, over 50,000 UK posts have been lost,” Mr MacGregor said.
“Unite continues to oppose all job losses and has challenged the senior management to ensure that all those affected by this latest round of announcements are given a clear option to remain working for Lloyds - where they choose to do so. Unite remains adamant that as the bank continues to see significant improvements in performance and profits - it is totally unacceptable that it persists in putting pressure on those who work for the organisation, by making hundreds more of their fellow workers redundant on a regular basis.”
