Japanese Bank Resona to Cut Headcount by 3,100 Over Three Years

(Bloomberg) -- Resona Holdings Inc. plans to trim headcount by about 3,100 staff, or almost 10% of its workforce, over three years as the Japanese bank seeks to cut costs to offset dwindling lending profits.

The Tokyo-based bank, which had 31,800 employees as of March, plans to make the reduction through natural attrition, according to a three-year business plan unveiled Tuesday. The company will hire fewer college graduates and has no plans to offer early retirement, a spokesman said.

Even before the coronavirus, Japanese banks had been shrinking their workforces to cope with declining interest rates and make better use of digital technology. Digitalization will make it possible to operate with fewer staff, Resona said.

The bank plans to reduce expenses to about 60% of revenue in the year ending in March 2023, from 63.3% in the year just finished. Net income will fall 21% to 120 billion yen in the current fiscal year, it said.

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