Swedbank Group to Cut About 500 Jobs, Around 100 of Them in the Baltics
Sweden's Swedbank plans to reduce its workforce by about 500 people, roughly 100 of them in the Baltic states. The head of its Estonian unit says the bank no longer needs as many staff now that profitability has returned to normal levels.
Swedbank, the Swedish banking group, plans to cut its headcount by around 500 people, with about 100 of those positions in the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Olavi Leps, chairman of the management board of Swedbank in Estonia, told the Estonian public broadcaster ERR. Swedbank has subsidiary banks in all three Baltic countries.
How many people are affected
According to Leps, more than 6,000 people work for the bank in the Baltics. The reductions apply to about 100 of them, while the total number of dismissals across the whole group will be close to 500.
Leps said existing employees are also being offered the chance to change their job profile. That option does not suit everyone, however, so some staff will have to be let go.
Why the bank is cutting staff
Leps explained that the move is linked to a general reorganisation of work and to investment in development. A few years ago the bank went through a period of exceptionally high profitability, and it then decided to increase spending on information technology and on various projects related to data modelling.
"Today, when profitability has returned to its usual level, we no longer need so many employees," Leps said. He added that there is no point in keeping the previous headcount when no large-scale development work is currently under way.
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