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The country’s three banking giants have announced layoffs for the next few months. Banco Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank are working on employment regulation files (ERE) that will add thousands of exits from a sector that has already accumulated 2,000 more unemployed in the year of confinement. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the number of unemployed within the financial and insurance activities branch of activity was 22,800 people in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to 20,600 a year ago.
The entity chaired by Ana Botín announced in November of last year an ERE for 4,000 people. Of these, 1,800 have already left the entity in the first quarter of the year. In the case of CaixaBank, the merger with Bankia has led the bank to negotiate a restructuring plan with the unions. Although there are still no official figures, analysts and sources in the sector, they believe that the outputs will be around 8,000 people.
The last to join the announcement was BBVA, which justifies the ERE due to the situation in the sector. Beyond the pressure from competition, the banking sector has been forced to cut costs in the face of negative interest rates, bank sources defend.
In the case of the entity chaired by Carlos Torres, there are still no official figures, the bank’s management has summoned the unions this Friday, April 16. According to sources from the entity, the ERE will apply only to BBVA SA, and not to other group subsidiaries, so the potentially involved workforce is 23,300 people.