Portugal's banks have failed significantly to reduce staff levels

Portugal’s bloated banking sector has made only half-hearted efforts to reduce costs by laying off staff, just 7,000 job losses in the last five years, many with comfy early retirement packages.

The banks claim that reductions in operating costs have been a top priority but strong unions have ensured low lay-off rates with BCP reducing staff by just 309 employees despite a job reduction agreement under its restructuring plan, necessary to achieve in order to pay back the taxpayer.

BPI at least managed to close 52 branches but reduced its workforce by just 63 people last year leaving 597 branches and 5,899 employees in Portugal.

State owned Caixa Geral already had put forward a voluntary list of reforms in order to accelerate the downsizing of the bank and 488 employees left the workforce in 2015 -  311 of which were chosen from 1,000 staff that applied to leave under a more-than-generous exit scheme.

Santander Totta, the Spanish bank that snapped up Banif in an extraordinary deal that still has regulators reeling, took on over 1,100 Banif staff but has not announced a single job loss.

Novo Banco has been chatting with the trade unions after warning in its restructuring plan, announced after the sale of the bank was pulled, that a significant number of jobs would be lost - maybe 1,000 of the 5,660 employees.

Not one person has been fired as Eduardo Stock da Cunha aims to leave the over-staffing problem to the bank’s next owner.

The Spanish banks are attacking their over-staffing problem with 20,000 jobs going last year alone. Since 2008, around 70,000 bank workers have been let go with 200,000 remaining in the Spanish domestic banking sector.

Portugal’s three largest private banks (BCP, Santander Totta and BPI) earned €763 million profit last year.

The State bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) managed to lose €171.5 million in 2015 blaming its loss partly on its own generous retirement plan for un-needed staff.

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