Permanent TSB plans to cut about 300 jobs over the course of this year after receiving a strong level of applications for a voluntary redundancy scheme launched two months ago.
“Following receipt of applications to its voluntary severance scheme, the bank envisages that it could accommodate around 300 employees from across the bank, exiting on a phased basis over 2025,” a spokeswoman said, confirming numbers put to her by The Irish Times on Friday.
“In considering individual applications, the bank will ensure that a high standard of customer service is maintained. Outcomes will be communicated directly to those who applied by the end of February.”
Sources said that the scheme had been heavily oversubscribed. However, the spokeswoman said the bank had “no plans to launch further schemes in the near-term”.
There had been speculation among union officials that as many as 500 positions could be eliminated under the plan. PTSB is led by chief executive Eamonn Crowley.
The number of staff exiting, including about 20 senior managers, equates to 9.3 per cent of Permanent TSB’s (PTSB) 3,240-strong workforce as of the middle of last year.
Financial Services Union (FSU) secretary general John O’Connell said the planned job cuts raised many questions for consumers and staff.
“The FSU will be meeting with the bank in scheduled meetings over the next couple of weeks. We will be looking for the rationale for each role being made redundant, an assurance of no additional workload for remaining staff and there will be no mandatory transfers as a result for remaining staff,” he said.
“What are the consequences to customer services from this cut in staffing numbers? Will service levels be maintained?”
The redundancy terms on offer are in line with PTSB’s long-standing policy. Staff can opt for four week’s basic salary for each year worked, plus statutory redundancy entitlements of two weeks; five weeks’ salary per year of service, inclusive of statutory entitlements; or 20 weeks’ salary, plus statutory entitlements.
Payments are capped at the lesser of 2½ years salary or €300,000.
PTSB’s workforce has grown by 850 to 3,240 full-time equivalents over four years to last June, after taking on hundreds of Ulster Bank staff and retaining others hired on temporary contracts to deal with a growth in customers.
However, its costs base is out of kilter with those of its two larger rivals. PTSB’s total income per employee stood at about €219,000 in 2023, according to calculations based on the bank’s average staff numbers. Bank of Ireland’s ratio was almost €420,000 and AIB’s nearly €465,000.
The average among western European banks was just shy of €400,000, according to US management consulting firm Kearney.
PTSB’s running expenses equated to 66 per cent of income in 2024, well above the 39 per cent and 42 per cent posted by AIB and Bank of Ireland, respectively.
While PTSB previously targeted a ratio of 55 per cent in 2025, it backed away from that early last year and set a target of 60 per cent for 2026.
But with the European Central Bank cutting rates more quickly than expected – unveiling a fifth quarter of a percentage point reduction since June last month and setting the scene for more reductions next year – that revised target was also looking optimistic without cost-cutting actions, according to analysts.
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