Intesa Sanpaolo unveils plans to cut 9,000 jobs

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Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest bank, announced plans on Wednesday to axe almost 10 per cent of its workforce as it aims to reduce costs and accelerate its digital transformation.

The lender said it had struck a deal with trade unions to cut 9,000 jobs on a voluntary basis over the next three years — including 4,000 early retirements — that will allow Intesa to save €500mn each year from 2028.

The company also said it would book charges of €350mn in the fourth quarter of this year relating to the redundancy programme, but added this would not affect the €8.5bn of net income it is targeting for 2024.

Intesa said in its 2023 annual report that it had 94,368 employees. It is due to announce third-quarter earnings next week.

Lenders have been cutting jobs as customers increasingly use online banking, and companies no longer need extensive branch networks.

Intesa said the exit package for employees would “enable generational change at no social cost, also owing to significant investment in technology”.

The reorganisation is part of a broader 2022-25 business plan by Intesa that envisages streamlined processes and greater efficiency. 

Intesa said it would offer the exit package to all its workforce — including managers.

The job cuts, which will lead to an unspecified number of bank branches closing, will be mainly focused on Intesa’s Italian staff.

However, about 2,000 departures are planned across the company’s offices located overseas.

Intesa said it would hire 3,500 young professionals by June 2028 who would focus on selling more profitable products such as wealth management and insurance.

Under its 2022-25 business plan, Intesa has increased digital investments as it pursues lower retail banking costs.

But branch closures have been a particularly arduous task in a country where older customers still rely on lenders’ physical presence.

Last year Intesa received complaints after it began shifting thousands of customers to Isybank, its online-only service, without their consent, and was forced by Italy’s competition regulator to halt the automated migration.

This month the lender announced the creation of a new chief security officer role to deal with increasing cyber threats.

Intesa’s digital systems were called into question this month after it emerged a rogue employee had made more than 6,000 illegal breaches of accounts, including those of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and other politicians. The company issued a public apology.