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AIB HAS ANNOUNCED plans to reduce its workforce by 1,500 by 2023.
The bank said it aims to achieve over 10% reduction in costs by 2023.
In a statement today, the bank said it expects to employ 1,500 fewer people within the next three years “due to a combination of normal retirements, natural exits and voluntary severance”.
“The bank is confirming that in early 2021 it is to re-open its voluntary severance programme which was paused in March 2020,” it confirmed.
AIB also confirmed plans to merge a number of branches in Dublin, Cork and Galway in the first half of next year.
In Dublin, AIB’s Westmoreland Street operations will move to its Dame Street branch. Eyre Square will more to the Lynch’s Castle branch in Galway and the Patrick Street branch will move to 66, South Mall in Cork.
Sinn Féin spokesperson on finance Pearse Doherty has called on the management of AIB to postpone the plans to reduce its workforce by 1,500 by 2023.
Doherty said the announcement of the job cuts was “ill-judged and premature in the teeth of this pandemic”.
“In March, the bank postponed these plans because of Covid-19. We are still living with the virus, and its impact on jobs and livelihoods will be with us for some time,” he said.
“To move ahead with this job-cutting exercise amid record levels of unemployment is a mistake,” Doherty said.
Digital banking
In its statement, AIB outlined that Covid-19 has rapidly accelerated customers’ preference for digital banking.
Customers are now interacting with the bank’s app more than 1.54 million times a day, compared with 40,000 daily branch visits.
AIB CEO Colin Hunt said the bank’s strategic plan, which will be implemented over the next three years, has been “influenced by the accelerating effect of Covid-19 on customers’ preference for digital banking and emerging new trends in how and where our people work”.
“Our heightened focus on cost controls, the pursuit of new growth opportunities and our investment in digital innovation will enhance the range of financial services and products for our customers, while generating value for our shareholders and putting the bank on an even stronger footing to meet the challenges ahead,” Hunt said.
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“Customers are now interacting with the bank’s app more than 1.54 million times a day, compared with 40,000 daily branch visits.”
I took time off work to visit an AIB to open a joint account (which the website said to do). Was told we would have to make an appointment because “covid” (which their webiste did not say). The place was completly empty bar about 6 staff. Still waiting for them to get back to me with said appointment. Brutal
@JC: This is the same bs Ulster Bank came out with when they closed a lot of branches a few years ago. They tried to claim only 30 visits per day in our local branch, but even the tellers were saying there was at least 30 people before 11am every day.
They made 1.2 billion in profit last year and they are cutting jobs?
@Daniel Curtin: greed!
@Lydia McLoughlin: Income for the taxpayer
@Daniel Curtin: i don’t think AIB made profits of €1.2bn in 2019. I found that difficult to believe so googled their 2019 audited financial statements. AIB had operating income of €2.6bn with a profit for the year of €364m (not €1.2bn). With the central banks required capital adequacy ratios that ain’t a large amount if they want to continue lending. Anyhow, i would imagine unfortunately that other banks will be soon to follow suit and shed some jobs. Sad situation for those who are left go.
@Daniel Curtin: You don’t keep people in jobs just because you’re making profits – it’s a business, not a charity!
@Daniel Curtin:
Cannot let a good crisis go to waste…
Billions in profit between them
No taxes …
Thanks for the bail out
They are laughing at us…
@Kerry Evans: you are very incorrect on the banks not paying taxes (please see my below response to Michael McGrath who made the same mistake), you are also incorrect on banks using this pandemic as an excuse to cut jobs. Job cuts were in the pipeline for all major banks in Ireland before the pandemic and i know for fact at least one bank delayed redundancies as a result of the pandemic (although I am not silly enough to think this was done for the staffs benefit but more so the optics of it).
If this is what AIB are doing I’d say we can expect things to be 4x times worse with Bank Of Ireland.
Locally AIB have been great during the lockdowns, by comparison, BOI actually outright closed their branch during the first lockdown. The biggest complaint I hear from BOI customers is anytime they attend the branch, the branch won’t allow them to deal with cash.
Between these things and Bank Of Ireland glacial pace of adapting to new technology’s like contactless payment (I believe last bank to do so) and android and apple pay shows they are behind what customer’s actually want.
Alternate headline:
AIB senior management to receive bonus after successful cost cutting exercise.
Still lots of older folk who don’t use computers or devices and can’t manage ATMs . They are at the mercy of family or friends to help them take out a few bob , especially if their pensions are paid directly into the bank. Afraid to go out to the branch and afraid of whether they will be allowed cash or not. only option is trusting others with Pin Number and we are all aware of how that works out on occasion.
@Terry Cahill: and the nice guys that will fix the gutters, will gladly help them.
All banks are greedy and have been allowed to be so by successive governments, despite we ‘owning’ the banks!
Can’t wait to have my mortgage paid so I can switch my accounts to my local credit union who have always been there for me in times of crisis.
@Mary Walshe: If AIB is greedy, the taxpayers benefit anyway
What is a “natural exists’? Can I expect to see a charge for this on my future statements
Automation and faceless banking, these uncontrolled institutions will make huge profits while firing employees and reducing employment.
@Seán Dillon: yes it happens when industries move on. Think how many people lost jobs when the tractor became affordable and reliable. It is actually strange we can’t deposit in atms but that will come and has been delayed too long
@Craic_a_tower: we will need more JCB’s so.
A bank that posts 1.2 billion in profit tax free needs to cut costs are you joking me… Greed greed greed. The digital banking is fine until you have a problem and bloody siri is trying to sort it out for you
@Michael McGrath: AIB did not make €1.2bn in profit – a quick google of their audited financial statements show they made profit of €364M. They also paid a large government levy (essentially taxes) which would be much greater than the 12.5% CT they would have had to pay. In addition, i find people don’t really understand why AIB don’t pay CT and think its some kind of sweetheart deal. It is not. It is permitted under tax law to carry past losses forward to offset future profits. All businesses can do this. And i suspect most businesses will be next year after suffering losses in 2019. There is a debate that these loses should be forfeited should public money be used to bail you out – i would be all for this but currently this is not law in Ireland.
@Eoin Jackson: and never will be the law
@Michael McGrath: spot on! Unfortunately it never will be
They’ve been doing this well before Covid
This Adam Smith quote sums up the world “All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind”.
AIB executives probably think they’re being brave in doing this despite the inevitable customer backlash! ‘We’re backing brave…’ They’ve obviously started to believe their own BS…
Does anyone at the Jounal proof read before publication?
@Dixieblue: Does anyone proof read your comments before you publish them?
Very predictable that banks would use a pandemic for an excuse to cut costs, I hope it blows up in their face when the pandemic is over and they struggle to fill positions again
@Adam J: they aren’t using the pandemic as an excuse. In fact these job losses were on the table before the pandemic and got delayed because of it – i would imagine other banks will be following suit shortly. Regardless, loss of jobs is never a nice thing to see and hopefully the staff effected can retrain or find alternative employment quickly!
Like the supermarkets let the customer do all the work
David McWilliams will have a conniption! Go postal even.
Sad to see the small local branches disappearing but I guess that’s just an unfortunate side effect that we all have to get used to of the banks progressing into the brave new digital age.
Maybe these are real and not another raid on the national insurance fund
That’s ‘human’ jobs. But think of the opportunities for the computers!
Then why are they purchasing Goodbody stockbrokers? For more than what they sold it for i might add.
When will aib fix the pro lem that prevent the download of their mobile app to android phones
have your say