The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Région Bruxelles-Capitale / Brussels Hoofdstedelijke Gewest;
Location of affected unit(s)
Brussels
Sector
Financial Services Financial And Insurance Activities Financial Service Activities, Except Insurance And Pension Funding 64 - Financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding
2,430 jobs Number of planned job losses
1,380 jobs Number of planned job creations
Announcement Date
3 December 2015
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date
31 December 2018
Description
Banking group BNP Paribas Fortis is restructuring both its retail network as well as its central services functions in Belgium. As a consequence, 2,430 jobs will be cut. The restructuring however also envisages the creation of 1,380 new jobs. The net job loss is therefore 1,050 jobs, equivalent to around 7% of the group's employment in Belgium.
The restructuring is part of the new Vision 2020 plan motivated by rapid digitisation of services, a weak economy, growing regulation and competition and the changing expectations of their clients. Management envisages that the cuts will be implemented mainly through natural attrition and without recourse to compulsory redundancies.
Sources
3 December 2015: De Standaard
3 December 2015: De Tijd
Citation
Eurofound (2015), BNP Paribas Fortis, Internal restructuring in Belgium, factsheet number 85649, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/85649.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
