ING to cut 2,700 Dutch bank jobs as market turmoil bites
DUTCH financial services group ING is to cut 2,700 jobs, it said yesterday, slashing headcount at its Dutch retail banking operations by ten per cent in the face of deteriorating markets.
ING also took a €467m (£401m) pre-tax writedown on its Greek government bond holdings in its third-quarter results, and said it had now written down all of its bonds to market value and reduced exposure to peripheral Eurozone sovereigns by more than €5bn.
ING said it would cut 2,000 full-time staff, or 10.5 per cent of its Dutch retail banking operations. It will also cut 700 contract positions.
The cuts follow similar measures at ING’s Dutch rivals ABN Amro and Rabobank, and reflect the downturn in the global financial markets and a push to improve efficiency in the domestic market.
The Dutch central bank said on Wednesday that Dutch banks are inefficient compared with their foreign rivals and it saw room cutting costs.
ABN Amro, which was nationalised in the 2008 financial crisis, is shedding 2,350 jobs or some nine per cent of its workforce, while Rabobank has announced plans to cut more than 1,200 jobs at its Dutch headquarters.