ABN AMRO announced not to extend contracts via its own intranet. That has fallen badly internally

The Stop announced via the ABN AMRO intranet on vacancies, contract extensions and external hiring last week did not go well. The bank and the union confirm this after reporting from Het Financieele Dagblad.

External personnel and employees with an annual contract heard last Monday via the bank’s intranet that their job will probably expire. Their managers were only informed shortly before, as a result of which the employees involved had not all had a personal message. The bank acknowledges that the recruitment stop and the way « has raised emotions and questions. »

ABN AMRO says through a spokesperson that communication, « and also the timing thereof, » is crucial when you announce these types of measures. The bank says that « afterwards you can say that we should have taken more time » between informing management, the directly involved and the announcement to all colleagues via the intranet. « On the other hand, if you wait too long, there is also unrest and uncertainty. In short, it remains a dilemma and we keep learning from that. »

‘Healthy return’

The purpose of the measure, which should apply to the rest of the year, is to achieve the cost objective that the ABN AMRO board has promised towards the shareholders. At the presentation of the annual figures in February, the bank promised that the cost level in 2025 would be about the same high as in 2024: 5.3 billion euros. In an internal communication, financial CEO Ferdinand Vaandrager writes: « 2025 is only a few months old and we are already seeing that the operational costs are out of step. Without timely adjustment we will not achieve our objectives at the end of the year. »

In recent years, banks have made substantial profits due to the rising interest rates. Now that interest rates are falling again – the European Central Bank decided on Thursday to a new interest rate reduction – the profit margins are again under pressure. If ABN AMRO also does not keep the costs under control, it will push the margins even further down.

The stop also aims to depend less on external consultants, the bank writes. In particular in the field of risk management and the anti-money laundering operation of ABN AMRO- for which the bank has improvement programs because of backlogs – Many consultants have recently been hired: last quarters between 3,600 and 4,100 (compared to nearly 22,000 people in their own service). This ensures high costs « and that the knowledge is not built up and retained within the bank ».

The Union Trade Union provides that the measures will increase the workload within the bank, while that pressure has been a point of care for a longer period of time. The union writes That cutting back on people is rarely a sustainable solution. « It leads to lower motivation, more absenteeism, and ultimately to a deteriorated service. » Trade union manager Harma Pethke fears that it will not stay with the bank with this recruitment stop. « More will follow, we think. »

More central control

The recruitment stop also seems to be based on giving central management more control over the expenditure – according to the FD, there are departments that structurally exceed their budgets. The bank indicates that exceptions are possible on the recruitment stop, for example for colleagues with a temporary contract. Those exceptions are only possible through a « central approval process ». « The first applications have already been submitted and the central approach is going well and fast, » the spokesperson said in a written statement.

The recruitment stop and the unrest cast a shadow for the last month of the following week resigning chairman of the board Robert Swaak from the bank. His successor, Marguerite Bérard, is currently being trained. The spokesperson said that she is « fully aware of the considerations and the decision. »

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