Lloyds axe 15,000 jobs in plan to save £1.5bn
Lloyds Banking Group will cut 15,000 more jobs by 2014 as part of new Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio’s strategic review.
The cuts are part of Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio’s strategic review of how he will turn around the fortunes of the bank, which is 41 per cent state-owned.
Slashing further jobs will be the latest blow to staff. In total, more than 40,000 jobs have been lost since the group was formed when Lloyds TSB and HBOS merged early in 2009.
The savings – on top of the £2bn a year already being achieved following the HBOS takeover – focus on stripping away layers of management. The job losses are likely to be at middle management level and back office roles rather than in branches.
Lloyds said it hopes to use natural staff attrition and internal redeployment rather than redundancy where possible.
But unions still warned there was “deep distress” across the company.
One in eight roles will be lost over the next three years. David Fleming, Unite
David Fleming, Unite National Officer, said: “Astonishingly one in eight roles will be lost over the next three years. This review is merely another box-ticking exercise to give this bank – which has already, since its creation two years ago, cut over 27,000 staff – an excuse to sack more employees.”
Mr Horta-Osorio, the Portuguese-born banker who took the top post in March after being poached from rival Santander, said he wants to create a more “agile” organisation.
He also revealed that Lloyds will reduce its international presence by more than half. It currently operates in 30 countries globally. He also pledged to revitalise the Halifax brand.
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