Dutch Banks to Cut Thousands of Jobs Amid Cost Drives, AI Push
By Sarah Jacob
- Bankers in the Netherlands are facing thousands of cuts as their employers adopt artificial intelligence and seek to trim costs.
- ASN Bank will eliminate as many as 950 positions by the end of next year, and ING Groep NV said almost 1,000 positions are at risk due to “digitalization, AI, and evolving customer needs.”
- ABN Amro Bank NV announced the acquisition of NIBC, which will result in about €100 million in annual costs savings, and the lender shed almost 700 full-time roles in the third quarter alone.
Bankers in the Netherlands are facing thousands of cuts as their employers increasingly adopt artificial intelligence and seek to trim costs.
State-owned ASN Bank said on Thursday it will eliminate as many as 950 positions by the end of next year, linking the plan to a previous decision to get rid of several brands.
That came a day after ABN Amro Bank NV announced the acquisition of local rival NIBC, saying the deal will ultimately result in about €100 million ($116 million) in annual costs savings, though it didn’t explicitly mention job cuts. The lender put in place a hiring freeze earlier this year and shed almost 700 full-time roles in the third quarter alone.
Last month, the country’s biggest lender, ING Groep NV, said almost 1,000 positions are at risk in response to “digitalization, AI, and evolving customer needs.”
The planned job reductions underscore how banks are increasingly under pressure to deal with the twin challenge to offset the profitability hit from falling interest rates while spending money to build up AI capabilities that don’t always yield an immediate efficiency boost.
ING’s net income is expected to drop 6% this year, according to the Bloomberg-compiled analyst consensus forecast, while ABN Amro’s is predicted to fall 8%.
Global banks will cut as many as 200,000 jobs in the next three to five years as artificial intelligence encroaches on tasks currently carried out by human workers, Bloomberg Intelligence estimated at the beginning of the year. Back office, middle office and operations are likely to be most at risk, BI said.
Many bank executives expect that a substantial part of the roles could be changed, rather than eliminated, by AI. Several firms have started projects to re-train their workforce in preparation for the shift, not least because hiring qualified tech personnel can be difficult and expensive.
ABN Amro is set to hold an investor day on Nov. 25. The new strategy will have “a sharp focus on right-sizing our cost base,” Chief Executive Officer Marguerite Berard said on an earnings call on Wednesday.
