TSB to phase out branch cashier roles in job cuts
TSB has told cashiers that their jobs will be phased out at the start of 2021, following a steep decline in customers banking in its branches due to the pandemic.
Those affected by the cuts will have to retrain, change roles or take voluntary redundancy, according to a staff memo seen by Reuters.
A total of 929 staff will be involved in the restructuring, a TSB spokesman said.
Banks across the industry are looking to cut costs in the face of an expected spike in impairments from bad debts resulting from the pandemic.
TSB’s Spanish parent Sabadell said in July that it was looking at accelerating cost-cutting at the bank, after TSB posted a €64m loss for the first half of the year.
The bank said credit impairment charges increased by £87.5m, which it blamed on a “significant weakening in the economic outlook, including higher forecast unemployment and house price declines”.
Staff union TBU’s general secretary Mark Brown said: “TSB was already facing major cost problems and this looks like them jumping on the bandwagon, using the pandemic as an excuse to get rid of these roles.
“They don’t know whether people will return to branches once this pandemic is over.”
In the staff memo, TSB encouraged employees to retrain for more complex roles which would involve helping customers to open accounts or to use digital services.
“The way customers use their banks is changing and Covid-19 has significantly accelerated the use of digital services,” TSB said in a statement.
“When customers visit our branches, their needs tend to be more complex and we need a fully multi-skilled and flexible workforce to meet them. This is why we are offering some branch colleagues the opportunity to upskill to take on broader customer service roles or take voluntary redundancy.”