The news comes at a time when Claudio de Sanctis prepares to take control of the bank's retail business, known as the private bank division, from next month
Deutsche Bank to axe retail jobs in Germany. (Credit: Tim Simon on Unsplash)
Deutsche Bank is reportedly planning to cut 10% of the 17,000 workforce in its German retail business unit over the coming few years, as part of cost its savings strategy.
The news comes at a time when Claudio de Sanctis prepares to take control of the bank’s retail business, known as the private bank division, from next month.
The retail unit’s new boss believes that European banks, which have become a mere transaction-based space, need a different concept for their branches.
While other European banks have been closing their bank branches, Claudio plans to get skilled youth into bank branches, reported Reuters.
Claudio de Sanctis then said: “If you were to go to a university today and tell a bunch of students, ‘Guys, you want to hang around in the bank branch?’, they would look at you like you’re crazy. That makes me very excited about trying to do that because I love that kind of challenge.
“Banks have lost the role they played in society over the last 20 to 30 years. When I was a kid, the advisors of the family were the priest, the doctor and the bank,” de Sanctis said.
“Today, our economic purpose is still there, but we are no longer that sort of central aggregator. And I believe that that’s very much needed in Europe.”
The bank recently announced that it is exploring further opportunities for cost savings and would cut jobs in certain areas to increase profits, said the publication.
The move is currently in the planning phase and is subject to discussions with unions and worker representatives and may also involve staff recruitment in some areas.
The German lender previously announced job cuts, but never materialised, said Reuters.
In 2019, it announced plans to cut 18,000 jobs as part of its business restructuring, but did not cut as announced, business picked up again.
Operating under the Postbank brand in Germany, Deutsche has closed more than 300 retail branches over the past five years, said the publication.