The big Dutch banks reduced their workforces in the Netherlands by some 5,000 jobs this year, the Financieele Dagblad said on Friday.

The job losses at ABN Amro, ING, Rabobank and SNS Reaal come on top of a further 17,000 financial services sector jobs between 2008 and the end of last year, the paper said.
Most financial institutions have cut their workforces by more than 10% since the fall of Lehman Brothers. The job losses stem from the need to cut costs which in turn partly derive from regulatory demands for less risky investments.
In addition, interest rates have gone up and customers have become more picky about policies and commission payments.
Hugo van Wijk of bank advisory bureau Vallstein expects further job losses. ‘Cost have to be cut by a further 20%,’ he told the FD. ‘I believe we are at the point of a fundamental restructuring of banking practices.