BBVA and unions agree 1,001 layoffs in Catalonia

BBVA management and unions have come to an agreement over job losses following a month and a half of negotiations.

In total, 2,935 staff will be laid off by the bank across Spain, including 1,001 in Catalonia, unions revealed following a final meeting between the company and employees on Tuesday.

The figure is significantly lower than the 3,800 initially proposed by the bank in April. It will see BBVA's workforce cut by around 10%, rather than the 15% originally planned.

Catalonia – over one third of redundancies

Catalonia is the territory with the largest number of redundancies planned, with 1,001 representing over a third (34%) of the total. It will see 183 branches closed, out of a total of 480 across Spain.

Barcelona will lose 109, while 34 will shut in Tarragona, 22 in Girona and 18 in Lleida.

Of the total of 2,935 employees affected across Spain, 2,725 are set to leave their jobs directly, while the remaining 210 will initially take unpaid leave.

Most of the job losses, a total of 2,177, will affect the branch network, with the remaining 758 in other areas such as central services and corporate centers.

Unions "positive"

Unions say that recent demonstrations have been "key" to coming to a more "positive" agreement.

The bank had wanted people under 50 to account for half of the layoffs, but Tuesday's pact stipulates that only 28% of staff who leave will be under 50.

The unions who voted in favor of the deal represent 72.2% of the workforce and claim that there will be "no forced exits", but some unions voted against the deal, in part because they are worried that there will be forced redundancies in Catalonia.

Caixabank

Caixabank, the largest bank in Spain, is also planning to lay off 18% of its staff, some 8,291 workers, following its merger with Bankia in April.