Bank staff voice job concerns

CONCERNS have emerged that more major job cuts are planned for the banking sector following the implementation of the Government’s recapitalisation programme and the transfer of loans to NAMA.

Banking union, the IBOA said bank staff have serious concerns about their future employment.

IBOA general secretary, Larry Broderick said cutting staff is a “short-sighted knee-jerk response at a time when circumstances demand a profound and permanent shift in banking culture based on a return to the traditional values of prudence, integrity and stability”.

“That cultural shift will be impossible if decisions are taken in the meantime which exacerbate instability and place further intolerable pressures on financial services staff,” he said.

Bank staff are awaiting the statement from the Minister for Finance on the future of the financial services sector with some trepidation, the IBOA said.

It said a the announcements on the banking sector expected this week contain potential threats to the livelihoods of the staff employed by Irish banks.

“Even though over 6,000 redundancies have either already taken place or have been agreed in the financial services sector in the 18 months since the banking crisis began, there is a serious concern that further major cuts in staff numbers are again being contemplated in some areas,” he added.

“Staff working in the financial services sector should be seen as an asset not a liability for their institutions. They will be essential to the recovery of the Irish banking system and to the rebuilding of public confidence in these institutions,” said Mr Broderick.

British financial-services companies will cut about 17,000 jobs in the first six months of this year even as confidence improves, Confederation of British Industry chief economic adviser Ian McCafferty said.