The Royal Bank of Scotland has today announced plans to cut 1,400 jobs more jobs over the next two years.
The bank says no customer facing branch staff will be affected and the majority of cuts will come from its Edinburgh and London head offices.
The specific areas where the cuts will be made are still being worked through with more details expected soon.
RBS chairman Sir Phillip Hampton yesterday warned investors there would be more job cuts in a bid to improve the financial performance of the bank. In Q1 the bank made £826m profit compared to a £1.5bn loss in Q1 2012.
The bank has pledged to invest £700m in retail over the next two years but says this is only possible by cutting administration jobs.
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RBS UK retail chief executive Ross McEwan says: “Regrettably, we can only do it by restructuring the way we work in head office so that every effort is concentrated on supporting our customers and the front line staff that serve them.
“This is clearly difficult news for our staff and we will do everything we can to support them, including seeking redeployment opportunities wherever possible to ensure compulsory redundancies are a last resort.”
RBS has already axed around 37,000 jobs since it was bailed out for £45bn by UK taxpayers in 2008.
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Unite national officer Dominic Hook said: “This is brutal and irresponsible behaviour from RBS which is almost entirely owned by the taxpayer. It is high time that the banks took its social responsibilities seriously.
“Since the beginning of the year RBS, HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds have announced plans to slash around 6,900 jobs. The industry almost caused the economy to implode in 2008 and now it is contributing to a jobs crisis.”
