Ing Group announces possible cuts of up to 7.000 jobs by 2021. The redundancies should be concentrated mainly in Belgium and the Netherlands, against a cost reduction program of 900 million euros a year. In a note released before Investor Day, the Dutch banking and insurance group, known in Italy above all for the "orange account", speaks of a massive investment of 800 million over the next 5 years in a continuous transformation towards digital to accelerate growth in the number of customers and loans. In view of the cut in the workforce, ING expects a provision of 1,1 billion, one of which in the fourth quarter of 2016.
"Since the launch of Think Forward in 2014 - commented the CEO of ING, Ralph Hamers -, we have made excellent progress on many fronts and have attracted over three million new customers, supported the economy with loans growing by around 56 billion euro and strengthened our capital. In this context, we intend to start a process of convergence towards a digital banking platform which translates into an investment "from 2016 to 2021 of 800 million euros in our digital transformation". From this strategy, the group "expects cost savings of around 900 million a year by 2021".
Then the lunge: “It is inevitable – continues the CEO – that the various measures and intentions announced today could have a significant impact on many of our colleagues. It means that some features will change significantly and other locations will be gone in the future. In all, over the next five years, approximately 7.000 functions could be impacted by these effects, including 950 employed by external vendors."
Some numbers are already clear: “Not all of our projects that we are announcing today are finalised, but our initiatives are set to result in a reduction of the workforce in Belgium by around 3.500 full-time jobs and around 2.300 full-time jobs in Netherlands for the years 2016-2021. Sadly, the steps and intentions announced today mean that a significant number of colleagues will have to leave ING,” concluded Hamers.
