ING job cuts
November 25, 2014
The Netherlands' second-largest lender, ING Group, reported Tuesday it would have to cut 1,700 jobs over the next three years in a bid to save costs.
An additional 1,000 positions would be lost at external suppliers, the bank announced in Amsterdam.
ING explained the cuts were part of a move to expand its digital operations, with "jobs to be lost at the headquarters of ING Retail Banking and in the back offices, call centers and IT departments."
Making the figures add up
The company said it would book a 320 million-euro ($400-million) charge to cover one-off costs, adding that it expected to save 270 million euros annually from 2017.
Earlier this month, ING paid back the remainder of a 10 billion-euro bailout it received from the state during the global financial crisis. In return for the rescue fund, the lender had to undergo large-scale restructuring and was forced to part with its insurance business.
State-owned Dutch bank ABN Amro had also reported on its plans to cut 1,000 jobs by 2018 as an increasing number of customers have switched to online banking, making a lot of the lender's offices redundant.
hg/cjc (Reuters, AFP, AP)