AIB is to cut 1,500 jobs and close several branches in Ireland in the next two years

Details of cost-cutting measures were announced on Wednesday following the conclusion of a strategic review which AIB says was shaped by the acceleration towards digital banking and changing ways of working through the Covid-19 pandemic.

In order to achieve a reduction of costs of over 10% by January 2023, AIB says it expects to employ 1,500 fewer people by that time due to a combination of normal retirements, natural exits and voluntary severance.

To that end, AIB has confirmed that it is to re-open its voluntary severance programme early next year after it was paused in March 2020.

AIB will also be vacating three of its six head offices in Dublin and merging overlapping branches in Dublin, Cork and Galway.

Earlier this week, AIB exited its former headquarters at Bankcentre in Ballsbridge and will leave adjacent premises at Hume House on 31 December.

A further three of its six remaining Dublin head office locations will be vacated as leases come up for renewal over the next few years.

The bank will also merge a small number of branches in close proximity to one another in Dublin, Cork and Galway in the first half of next year due to what it describes as a “service overlap”.

The moves to close a number of its head offices and merge branches, AIB says, has come about due to the proven capability and effectiveness of remote working, a lower headcount and the need to reduce costs.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year, 80% of AIB’s workforce has been working from home, while head office requirements in Dublin alone currently accounts for 50% of AIB’s total property costs.

Source: https://www.joe.ie/news/aib-1500-jobs-close-irish-branches-710466

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