RBS axes 3,700 UK jobs

2nd Nov 2009 17:41

Royal Bank of Scotland stepped up its efforts to cut costs by announcing the loss of 3,700 jobs across its UK branch network.The move was "absolute madness", according to Unite National Officer, Rob MacGregor. "Essentially RBS has decided that front line costs should be cut, to fund the crisis caused by the City bankers."It was "short-sighted" to slash front line clerical branch staff by up to a third and was a cleat attempt at forcing customers to use automated services and internet banking, he said.The NatWest owner, which is 70%-owned by the government, lost £24bn in 2008 and is desperately trying to get its balance sheet back in shape.Analysts think the bank, which employs about 165,000 worldwide, could eventually take its programme of job cuts to 25,000. It's thought no staff will exit the bank before next May and that any compulsory redundancies will be a last resort.The news comes the day before RBS is expected to announce which parts of the business it will have to sell in return for the billions of pounds of state aid received during the banking crisis. It confirmed today that it may have to sell significant chunks of its business as a result of its participation in the government's toxic loan insurance scheme (APS).The bank admitted it's close to agreement about the terms of it joining the asset protection scheme, but added it will have to divest some of its subsidiaries to meet European rules on state-aid.Stories over the weekend suggested that the government's stake in RBS could rise to as much as 84% from the current 70% as part of a deal that will see £270bn of toxic loans transferred into the state-backed insurance scheme.