SocGen to Cut 3,700 Jobs as Part of Domestic Retail Merger

(Bloomberg) -- Societe Generale SA expects to cut as many as 3,700 jobs as part of a plan announced last year to merge its domestic retail operations and boost profitability.

The reductions will be carried out between 2023 and 2025 and will stem from natural attrition, estimated at 1,500 per year, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday. 

“The merger will not lead to any compulsory departures, in accordance with our policy as a responsible employer”, Deputy General Manager Sebastien Proto said in the statement.

The measures are part of a plan announced by Chief Executive Officer Frederic Oudea last December, when the bank pledged to save 450 million euros by merging its two existing networks in France, Societe Generale and Credit du Nord. Like most of its European counterparts, SocGen has to find ways to boost the profitability of its retail network to counter the effect of negative interest rates. 

The legal merger, which is subject to employee and regulatory approval, is expected to take place on January 2023. SocGen previously said it will reduce its total number of branches by 600 to 1,500 as a result, though it didn’t say at the time how many jobs would be lost. The lender now said it aims to have 1,450 branches in 2025.

Last week, SocGen, along with BNP Paribas SA and Credit Mutuel, announced that they were assessing the possibility of setting up joint ATMs in France.

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