Workers putting up a CaixaBank sign at Bankia headquarters in Madrid s Puerta de Europa towers following the merger.VÃctor Sainz
CaixaBank, Spainâs largest domestic retail bank following its merger with Bankia, is planning to axe 8,291 jobs in the biggest ever staff reduction in the Spanish banking sector, and the third largest in Spainâs corporate history.
Management on Tuesday informed union leaders about its plans to reduce employee numbers by 18.7% to 36,109, down from 44,000. Additionally, over 1,500 branches representing 27% of the total will be closed.
Spainâs finance minister and government spokesperson, MarÃa Jesús Montero, on Tuesday said that without the merger, the number of job cuts would be a lot higher. But she also called the plans âbad newsâ at a time when the government is making âherculean effortsâ to preserve jobs through ERTE schemes and avoid the kind of unemployment figures seen during the 2008 crisis.