The latest job cuts come despite a Q3 2020 net profit before tax of £1.03bn
Lloyds Banking Group headquarters in London. (Credit: Carcharoth/Wikipedia.org)
Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) plans to lay off another 1,070 employees as part of a previously announced restructuring strategy to streamline its business.
The job cuts add to the 865 roles that will be made redundant by the banking group across its UK operations, as announced in September 2020.
According to trade union Unite, the latest redundancies are planned to be executed across the commercial and retail banking operations. However, the banking group also announced plans to create 329 new jobs.
Financial services union Accord has put the number of new jobs at around 340.
The latest job cuts are being taken up despite the British banking major reporting strong profits for the third quarter of 2020, said Unite.
The trade union has asked Lloyds Banking Group to immediately defer its planned restructuring programmes due to the “better than expected” Q3 2020 results and also the increasing threat from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer said: “Unite cannot comprehend why LBG would choose to cut 1,000 staff who have given the bank such commitment and dedication during a global pandemic. These staff have worked tirelessly despite any risks to themselves.
“LBG has produced better than expected Q3 results, posting in excess of £1 billion of pre-tax profit – a direct result of the hard work and versatility of its workforce. This cost cutting strategy will not serve the bank or its customers. It is impossible to reconcile the job losses announced today with such an improved balance sheet.
For the third quarter that ended 30 September, Lloyds Banking Group reported net profit after tax of £688m compared to a net loss after tax of £1.01bn in Q3 2019.
In Q2 2020, the banking group was hit with a loss of £461m, while the first quarter of the year yielded net profit of £480m.
Accord’s Ged Nichols said: “The pandemic and the state of the economy make this a horrible time to be facing unemployment so we’ll be working with Lloyds banking Group to maximise the number of redeployment opportunities and to ensure that the number of compulsory redundancies is a low as possible.”