|
Neubauer Artists LLC
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Spanish bank is relying on specialized AI models to automate its processes, strengthen its fight against fraud, and develop new revenue streams. It aims to generate over one billion euros in value from AI between 2026 and 2028.
Santander is taking another step in its artificial intelligence strategy. The Spanish banking group has signed a three-year collaboration agreement with Nvidia to accelerate the integration of AI into its operations. The goal is twofold: to reduce operating costs and support revenue growth.
Santander estimates that accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence will allow it to generate over one billion euros in value between 2026 and 2028. This will be achieved through a combination of new revenue streams and cost reductions. The group is already targeting 200 million euros in value generated by the end of 2026.
Santander Has Laid Off 7,300 People Since 2023
Banco Santander is about to close the voluntary redundancy period for its latest workforce reduction plan (ERE). The deadline is next Wednesday, June 30, but departures are not immediate; in fact, employees can leave their jobs at any time until the end of the year.
In total, Santander’s workforce reduction plan will result in 3,572 job losses this year , although the vast majority have already occurred, according to union sources speaking to Economía Digital. Once completed, the bank, chaired by Ana Botín, will have reduced its workforce by 82% compared to the period it inherited from Banco Popular.
This is the third round of layoffs at the company since 2018. The first (which affected central services) resulted in 1,100 job losses; the second, justified by network duplication, saw another 3,069 job losses; and the third (the current one), motivated by the pandemic and increased digitalization, will eliminate another 3,572 jobs.
In total, there are 7,741 fewer employees, and considering that Santander integrated almost 9,400 workers from Popular, it can be said that the Cantabrian entity will once again have a workforce very similar to the one it had before acquiring this bank by the end of this year.
The curious thing is that, in terms of numbers, the last three workforce reduction plans (EREs) at Banco Santander even surpass those of Caixabank, which is currently negotiating one of the largest collective dismissals in the Spanish financial system following its merger with Bankia. After a month of negotiations with the unions, the bank, chaired by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, has reduced the number of affected employees from 8,291 to 7,605 and has already indicated that the figure will decrease further.
This means that Caixabank will reduce its workforce inherited from Bankia by around 40%, and Santander by twice that amount. The unions do not rule out the possibility that the Cantabrian bank could carry out a new restructuring process in 2022, given the experience of recent years.
Santander closes more than 100 branches every 15 days
The agreement reached between the bank and the unions on December 15th included 3,572 voluntary redundancies, representing 15% of the workforce, which totaled 29,500 employees at the end of 2020. It also included 1,500 relocations (400 within Santander Personal and 1,100 within other group companies) and the closure of 1,033 branches.
Between January and April, 2,395 people left the bank. The bank has not yet updated the figures for May’s departures, but will do so in the coming days. However, the unions expect the redundancy quota to be filled even before the scheduled date .
The internal relocations within the group have already taken place , and regarding office closures, 113 branches closed on June 4th, with the final wave scheduled for June 18th, by which time 970 branches will have closed. The workforce reduction plan (ERE) is still in effect until December, meaning employees can leave their jobs throughout the year, but the office closures will conclude in June.
Until the agreed 1,033 offices are closed, 50 more will remain, but these will be closed one by one starting in the summer, union sources explain.
Redeployments are a success, but “there’s a catch”
In all the bank’s workforce reduction plans, and this has been the fourth, there have been relocations because after more than 50 dismissals it is a legal obligation of the company to look for a new job.
Banco Santander typically uses Lee Hecht Harrison (LHH) of the Adecco group for this process, the same firm that Caixabank has hired for its own. Participation is voluntary, although many employees may have left the bank on early retirement or simply not want a new job, but this right can be transferred to first-degree relatives, such as a child or spouse.
In other words, Adecco can find a job for the son of a Santander Bank employee, and this is why “the success rates are so high ,” these sources explain. “There’s a bit of a catch because it’s much easier to place a young person than a banker.”
Even so, they acknowledge the positive initiative of the Cantabrian bank, which has decided to extend its job search and counseling services for former employees from the legally mandated six months to 18. Furthermore, if a job doesn’t work out after they’ve found one, the bank will again assist them in finding a new position.
