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
700 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
16 February 2016
Employment effect (start)
1 August 2016
Foreseen end date
31 December 2019
Description
DZ Bank and WGZ Bank announced plans to cut about 700 jobs by 2019. Job cuts are due to the merger between the two credit cooperatives. These restructuring plans will be negotiated with the works councils in the upcoming weeks. However, the banks agreed to seek an agreement with the works councils and that dismissals due to operational reasons are to be avoided. The job cuts of 700 positions does not affect the banks' subsidiaries.
The announcement about the merger was made in November 2015 and a contract will be signed in April, 2016. After the merger, the credit cooperatives will form one of the leading commercial banks in Germany. According to the management, job reductions are necessary to save costs and increase profit. Additionally, the cooperative is planning for internal restructuring in 2018.
DZ and WGZ Bank are currently employing about 5,700 employees. The two financial institutions will merge on 1 August 2016. DZ Bank is roughly four times larger than WGZ Bank.
Sources
16 February 2016: Handelsblatt (online)
16 February 2016: Wirtschafts Woche
17 February 2016: Handelsblatt (print)
17 February 2016: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Citation
Eurofound (2016), DZ Bank, Merger/Acquisition in Germany, factsheet number 86516, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/86516.
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.
