Bank of Ireland to cut 25pc of middle managers

BANK of Ireland intends to reduce the ranks of its middle management by up to 25pc by the end of the year, with the corporate and global banking arm likely to shoulder the majority ofthejoblosses.

According to sources close to the group, new chief executive Francesca McDonagh is targeting staff cuts of up to 12pc from three selected pay-grades by June.

It is understood a further 12pc of middle to senior management will be axed by the end of the year as the bank embarks on a swingeing cost-cutting regime.

A spokesman for the lender declined to comment yesterday.

However, sources said the bank issued an internal memo to staff yesterday following a newspaper report that up to 200 heads were set to roll from the middle management and executive ranks.

While a round of job cuts at this pay grade has been on the cards for some time, with Bank of Ireland steering clear of the wholesale culls that other lenders endured in the wake of the crash, the scale of the job losses remained unclear.

Owen Callan, an analyst with South African bank Investec, said middle management were typically first in the firing line “in these types of exercises” and claimed the headcount reduction was all part of Ms McDonagh’s plan to reshape the bank over the next five years.

Others in the market argued the group’s corporate and global banking arm has been virtually untouched by any cost-cutting, unlike the larger retail division.

It is understood the lender intends to make cuts in this division, with insiders claiming that middle management ranks will be reduced by 20pc within that unit by the end of the year.