BOI layoffs
- Thread starter DeclanR
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Pinoy adventure
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No,not yet anyway
Brendan Burgess
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I don't know what instanility is but I don't like the sound of it at all.
Is it a combination of insanity, insolvency and lack of hygiene?
Brendan
The OP might have dyspraxia or is it dyslexia?
Baby boomer
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You should be concerned alright. Not that BOI will go bang and your 100k with it - you're safe enough on that account. But a bank deposit is not a good place to have 100k given the current low rates.
Before covid underlying profits across Irish banks had been falling. They were able to avoid having to deal with it as year after year they could replace expensive financial crisis funding with cheaper funding. This more than offset declining income. However, they exhausted most of those benefits. They might have hoped credit demand might go up with strong economic growth but we know that's going to happen any time soon.
If funding costs can't go down (negative deposit rates?) and lending rates can't go up (court of public/political opinion) how can banks support profits? Cutting costs is the next logical step. People are expensive, the app on your phone isn't.
I imagine none of the banks wanted to be the first to do this but now one of them has raised their head above the parapet expect others to follow.
They believe they don't need the staff. In a digital economy, fewer and fewer people are going into branches meaning more branches are becoming unviable. Hence they will close some branches or will downgrade staff numbers in branches and move to automation (Cheque Deposit machines being a case in point)
They probably are also automating a lot of back office roles and hence will need fewer staff there also.
Will it result in a better customer experience?, questionable. Whilst automation is fine, on the rare occassion I have to visit any bank branch in Ireland, it is increasingly becoming a pain in the posterior. But that might be a price worth paying as far as BOI are concerned. In other words, the business case for having more staff in a branch and the more personal touch may not be there any more
DublinHead54
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The cost of achieving "digitalization" is expensive. These companies direct funds towards innovation and digitalization but more often than not end up stuck battling legacy systems resulting in not achieving the goal. Whilst FinTechs such as revolut who are not burdened by legacy systems, and operate quite light are able to deliver a better experience quicker.
Fears over Bank of Ireland €2bn tech revamp cost - FinTech Futures
Bank of Ireland’s five-year €900 million modernisation initiative – aka Project Omega – is over budget and costs could rise to €2 billion.
www.fintechfutures.com
Have they announced the split? I thought given they didn't mention branch closures on the news that this was not directed at the retail operations.
Probably a great opportunity for independent consultants to go and earn top dollar on transformation projects for a few years.
Steven Barrett
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That's what I was thinking, a lot of roles are merely now obsolete.
The package is reported to be better than ones previously offered and there will be loads of staff with 30+ years service chomping on the bit to avail of the redundancy package and just retire.
NoRegretsCoyote
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Ireland has about the same number of bank branches per capita as the EU, around 20 per 100,000 population.
I would expect it to fall a bit more if the state ever sells its stakes.
There is a natural lower limit though. Banks need a geographical footprint, particularly for SME lending.
I would expect it to fall a bit more if the state ever sells its stakes.
There is a natural lower limit though. Banks need a geographical footprint, particularly for SME lending.
Blackrock1
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indeed, this was coming covid or not, but covid offers a palatable reason,
the majority taking this will be going for an early retirement.
DublinHead54
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Interestingly I heard that the Central Bank prohibited some being accepted onto VR schemes because they were in Controlled Functions such as risk management. The CBI had concerns of leaving the bank with a lack of experience.
I doubt very much if there are 1400 staff with 30+ years of service in BOI at this stage and even those in early to mid fifties cannot avail of their pension until they are 62/63 .
I think given the above and the uncertainties in the current job market that BOI will have their hands full to achieve 1400 voluntary redundancies
I think given the above and the uncertainties in the current job market that BOI will have their hands full to achieve 1400 voluntary redundancies
Steven Barrett
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Redundancies are being made over a number of years. Some won't need to access pension until that age because they have redundancy and other savings. Other staff will see it as a good time to jump because they may get the tap on the shoulder in their 50's and have difficulty getting a new role at that stage.
Lots of scenarios at play in a company with such a large workforce.
As far as many aspects of retail banking are concerned Irish banks are probably doomed in the medium term as they will face ever more intense competition from Europe-wide online banks with much better IT and huge economies of scale. Regarding other aspects of their business such as mortgages and commercial loans, much depends on how aggressively these areas become subject to European Single Market rules and thus how much competition Irish banks will face. Replacing the current system of licencing by national central banks with a single European licencing authority would be a big step towards opening up the market. But I imagine there is a lot of protectionist lobbying going on behind the scenes in order to prevent this, especially in small countries such as Ireland whose banks are parasitic on the wider economy and shielded by high entry costs for foreign competitors.
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