Anglo to cut 350 jobs by end of 2012 ahead of wind-down

ANGLO Irish Bank is to cut 350 jobs from its 1,300-strong workforce by the end of next year as it prepares for its wind-down over the next nine years.

The bank announced yesterday that it had held a series of meetings with staff to inform them of management’s review of the company.

That review is aimed at the ultimate wind-down of Anglo by 2020 and the closure of some of its strands of business by 2016. The initial 350 job cuts will come about over the course of this year and next and will see 130 positions made redundant in Ireland.

Anglo said that it would look to achieve the reduction in headcount in a number of ways, including the disposal of some of its business interests such as its US-based loan book (an undertaking already well advanced) and its wealth management division, and via a voluntary redundancy scheme.

However, the bank warned that if take-up of the latter proved unsatisfactory, a compulsory redundancy programme may have to be implemented.

Anglo added that it would be consulting with staff immediately and that no redundancies would take place until that process had concluded.

Meanwhile, the Irish Bank Officials Association — the main union rep-resenting Anglo’s workers — said that it was “disappointed, though not surprised” at the bank’s announcement, adding that it would start negotiations with the bank today.

The association’s general secretary, Larry Broderick, said: “Our aim is to achieve a fair and balanced approach to the restructuring of the business, both for those staff who opt to leave the bank at this time and for those who decide to remain with the bank.

“While we acknowledge that the bank has indicated its preference that redundancies should be implemented on a voluntarybasis, we will urge management to strengthen that commitment so as to avoid making any staff redundant on a compulsory basis given the current employment situation in the financial services sector,” Mr Broderick added.