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.
Financial Services Financial And Insurance Activities Financial Service Activities, Except Insurance And Pension Funding 64.19 - Other monetary intermediation
1,700 - 2,100 jobs Number of planned job losses
400 jobs Number of planned job creations
Announcement Date
16 May 2016
Employment effect (start)
1 November 2016
Foreseen end date
31 December 2018
Description
Italian cooperative banks Banco Popolare (BP) and Banca Popolare di Milano (BPM) announced 2,500 redundancies to be implemented between 2016 and 2019.
The banks agreed a merging plan, which should be approved by their assemblies in October 2016.
The deal is expected to bring financial stability and overall profitability, while creating Italy’s third-largest bank by assets.
The overall strategy includes the shrinking of the number of local branches (down from 2,467 to 2,082), the disposal of at least €8 billion non-performing loans by means of a dedicated business unit, the deployment of multi-channel banking and the differentiation of products and services with a view to targeting more effectively both business and retail clients.
As for the employment impact, the plan envisages 1,800 job cuts to be implemented on a voluntary basis, and measures of internal relocation for 800 workers.
There is so far no information on which branches should be closed or the distribution of redundancies between the two banks.
Overall unions have not opposed the plan, insofar exits should occur by means of early retirements of incentivised dismissals. Yet, unions demand a reduction of the employment impact by hiring young workers.
Update, 23 December 2016: Negotiations have been finalised. An overall number of 2,100 exits have been agreed over the last months. The job cuts will be implemented by means of early retirements. The new group will also hire 400 people on permanent contracts. Yet, the hiring will primarily target temporary employees at the two affected banks.
The final agreement does not envisage a target number of relocations. Where those will be necessary, the company underwrote to grant priority to voluntary transfers and seek for short-distance transfers.
Sources
14 May 2016: La Repubblica
16 May 2016: BP-BPM – press release
16 May 2016: Il Sole 24 Ore
18 May 2016: Milano Finanza
Citation
Eurofound (2016), Banco Popolare - Banca Popolare di Milano, Merger/Acquisition in Italy, factsheet number 87506, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/87506.
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.
