Santander has cut more than 3,000 jobs in the UK and Portugal

Annual accounts for the first half of 2021 include an impact of 293 million in the UK and 165 million in Portugal against restructuring costs in both countries.

Banco Santander reduced its workforce in Portugal and the UK by more than 3,000 employees last year, and these two geographies have been focusing on job cuts the entity has been making in Europe since mid-2021, as evidenced by the bank’s financial report for this year. first half of 2022.

Santander had 20,320 workers in the UK in June, 2131 less than the previous year, while the Portuguese Santander branch had 4,977 workers, 1,072 fewer workers than in June 2021. In that period, the UK branch network shrunk in 103 branches, up to 450, and in Portugal it fell in 32 offices, reaching 386.

Sources in the bank, consulted by Europe Press, confirmed that the cuts came in response to the restructuring operations that took place in both countries last year. In fact, the annual accounts for the first half of 2021 include an impact of 293 million in the UK and 165 million in Portugal against restructuring costs in both countries.

In Portugal, Santander reduced the number of branches and digitized a large part of its operations, taking into account the changes in the habits of its customers and the digital transformation of banks, which was accompanied by a decrease in the workforce.

The entity gave preference to individual agreements, in accordance with Portuguese regulations, which included benefits greater than those established by law, health plans, resettlement programs and early retirement proposals.

Santander hired an independent legal advisor to review negotiations and employee liaison and designed a program to support workers leaving the entity in their new personal and professional phase, measures that allowed Santander Portugal to reach agreements with approximately 96% of employees affected by the downsizing. The remaining 4% (49 employees) were affected by the mass dismissal process.

In the UK, the workforce cuts came as a result of the announced office closures at the beginning of 2021 due to the increase in digital customers accelerated by the pandemic, the closure of four headquarters and the consolidation of other offices into five major locations.

In the case of Spain, on the contrary, the workforce has grown by 120 workers and 30 offices have been closed since June 2021, as the work organization file (ERE) was practically achieved by that date, which means the departure of 3,572 employees in the country and the closing of 1033 offices (34 of which are awaiting closure). In Poland, the workforce increased by 25 employees, reaching 10,468, 58 offices were closed, while maintaining a network of 413 branches.

With regard to the rest of the geographical regions in which Santander is located, the bank’s workforce also decreased in the United States by 667 people, to 14,943, in Chile by 707 people, to 9,921, and in Argentina by 300 people, to 8,514 workers. On the contrary, Santander added 8,628 employees in Brazil, up to 53,743, and 2,693 in Mexico, up to 28,236 workers.

The workforce of Digital Consumer Bank has also grown from 60 employees, up to 15894, and in the center of the company 68 people, up to 1811 workers.

Efficiency Ratio

Banco Santander’s transformation plan aims to achieve a more integrated digital operating model across the different geographies in which it operates to drive greater efficiencies and increase productivity.

In the first half of 2022, the group set its operating costs at 11,435 million euros, an increase of 10% over the same period in the previous year (and 5% more without the impact of exchange rates), due to the significant rise in inflation. In real terms (excluding the increase in average inflation), costs fell by 4% in constant euros.

In Europe, costs are down 1% year-over-year in constant euros and 7% in real terms. Without taking into account the increase in average inflation, the cost reduction was 17% in Portugal, 11% in Spain, 5% in the United Kingdom and 1% in Poland.

Overall, Santander’s efficiency ratio in Europe improved by 3.9 percentage points a year, reaching 48.5%. And at the group level, it was 45.5%, 0.2 percentage point lower than the previous year.