The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Financial Services Financial And Insurance Activities Financial Service Activities, Except Insurance And Pension Funding 64.19 - Other monetary intermediation
300 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
4 September 2021
Employment effect (start)
1 October 2021
Foreseen end date
2 November 2021
Description
The Financial Agency (FINA) is going through a process of digitisation and therefore business restructuring. That means lay-off for 300 employees. According to a report sent to the Croatian Parliament, FINA had total revenues of HRK 778.2 million (€103.76 million) in 2020, which represents 17% less than in 2019. In 2020, close to 51% of FINA revenue (HRK 393.7 million or €52.5 million) was spent on staff costs for payment of salaries and other allowances (2,853 workers working in 175 branches). Management costs in 2020 amounted to HRK 6.4 million (€853,000). In FINA, payment transactions are less and less performed because this form of business has moved online. FINA is also developing some new digital services, so in the future it will need fewer branch offices and staff.
Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, FINA was already working on the development of the Digital Transformation Strategy for the period 2021-2025, which sets new strategic guidelines and goals for the next five years. Part of the strategy refers to the optimisation of the process and organisational structure of FINA. This will lead to a change in the organisational structure and the number of employees.
The president of the representative trade union said that they had only started talks with the employer on an annex to the collective agreement for severance pay. According to the accepted collective agreement, severance pay is 60% of the average salary paid in the last three months of service for a maximum net amount of HRK 175,000 (€23,333).
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
