Britain’s largest mortgage financier, Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) has terminated more than 40,000 jobs since it received a taxpayer bailout after experiencing a financial crunch. The company made a recent announcement revealing plans to axe 700 more jobs.
The company announced yesterday that it will carry out job cuts across various units in line with a proposal made last year. Unions representing the company’s workers described the initiative as a slap to the staff because the firm recently awarded hefty bonuses to its executives. The announcement also stated that the 700 jobs will be part of 9000 job cuts that the company will make by October based on its strategic review.
Lloyd’s Chief Executive Officer, Antonio Horta-Osorio plans to close roughly 150 branches. The closures are expected to save more than 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in costs by 2017. He also revealed that the job cuts are in line with the company’s initiative to adapt to the customers’ shift to online banking. The firm will thus have to invest in digital systems.
The bank announced that some of the employees might retain their jobs because the banking firm plans to 65 new jobs across its retail, finance, commercial banking, and consumer finance platforms. Lloyd’s annual report indicated that the company employed roughly 94,000 individuals in the UK IN 2014.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) recently brought Simon Davies on board as the company’s legal and strategy officer to spearhead employee relations. Davies is a managing partner at a law firm called Linklaters LLP. The bank announced that the job cuts will affect the human resources, commercial banking and retail banking divisions.
The announcement leaves the firm’s employees worried about the security of their jobs while at the same time infuriated by their uncertain careers in the company. The job cuts will certainly be denting to the lives of most employees who will lose their jobs. The hardened economy isn’t making it easier to find alternative job placements especially considering the large number of employees who will lose their jobs.
