The Sabadell management and the unions have reached this Friday an agreement in principle regarding the ere they have been negotiating since the beginning of September. Dismissals and early retirements will finally be a minimum of 1,380 and a maximum of 1,605, compared to the 1,900 initially raised by the bank .
The workforce adjustment, thus, will affect between 9.4% and 10.9% of the employees that the entity had in Spain at the end of June (14,648, most of the 21,095 that the group has, which also operates in the United Kingdom and Mexico). The cut is in addition to the 1,800 early retirements that the parties agreed to at the end of last year .
The ere will be considered completed if 1,380 volunteers are reached who comply with the parameters set by the bank (they will have the right of veto if not, although they estimate that in the vast majority of cases they will not have to exercise it, and may impose outputs if said minimum is not reached).
However, if there is a greater number of volunteers, their withdrawal will be accepted until a maximum of 1,605 is reached , of which 950 will be in network administrative functions, 400 in commercial functions and 255 from the corporate centers of Sant Cugat del Vallès , Barcelona and Madrid, as well as in the central offices of the territorial directorates .
Sabadell estimates that the ere will cost it 269 million euros before taxes, which is equivalent to 23 basis points of its highest quality capital. Solvency, however, will not be impaired since the workforce adjustment will be financed with the capital gains obtained from the sale of bonds in the fixed income portfolio. The ere, he explained, will allow a minimum savings of 100 million euros per year before taxes, in line with the provisions of the strategic plan presented last May.
Terms
Faced with the original intention of the bank to establish different conditions for age groups, those of early retirement will finally be the same for all those over 55 years of age with a minimum of 10 years of seniority. Thus, they will receive around 85% of the net salary up to the age of 63, with a ceiling of 300,000 euros for those between 55 and 57 years old and 280,000 euros for those between 58 and 62 years old.
With regard to incentivized leave for those under 54 years of age, they will receive 40 days per year worked with a maximum of 30 monthly payments, in addition to bonuses of between 2,000 and 25,000 euros depending on their seniority. In addition, the bank has accepted 75 leaves of absence of three years with 25% of the salary and commitment to readmission within a radius of 25 kilometers from their current position or compensation with the same conditions as those who leave now. Together with the ere, Sabadell plans to close 320 branches , which means the closure of around 22% of its current 1,613 branches .
In an internal communication at the beginning of September, the bank justified the new cut due to the increasing use of digital banking by clients to the detriment of branches. Sabadell earned 220 million euros until June, 51.5% more , but its return on tangible capital (3.88%) is well below that required by investors for lending them said capital (between 8% and 10%). The strategic plan seeks to raise this profitability to 6% by the end of 2023.
