Layoffs Watch '11: RBS
RBS has a new internal motto called “Change the Bank." What do the changes entail? Ixnaying on ealsday ikelay ABN AMRO-ay and firing a couple thousand employees.
Royal Bank of Scotland plans to shed as many as 2,000 employees from its investment banking arm as it completes the integration of ABN Amro, the disastrous Dutch acquisition that pushed RBS to the brink of collapse. John Hourican, the head of RBS’s global banking and markets division, told the Financial Times that a smaller, more focused business would deliver more stable profits, while avoiding the “strategic tourism” that saw past management teams pursue ill-fated expansion. “The thing about the ABN Amro deal was it was a massive, bold undertaking at exactly the wrong moment,” Mr Hourican said. “You could not have chosen the more perfect ill-timing for any transaction.”
At RBS, the 2,000 jobs earmarked for elimination within global banking and markets are part of the “Change the Bank” initiative, which was set up to reduce inefficiencies across the group.
