Banking unions have reacted angrily to the news that ABN Amro bank is to cut 5,200 jobs over the next few years as part of a new strategy under chief executive Marguerite Bérard, who took over earlier this year.

“A shockwave has gone through the bank,” De Unie spokeswoman Harma Pethke said. “We expected job cuts but this is like a bomb going off.”

Arthur Bot of the CNV trade union federation said the cuts have been “driven by profit growth”. “This will have enormous impact,” he said. “The weird thing is, it is totally unclear if the job cuts will be mainly in the Netherlands or abroad.”

The FNV union federation said it is “incomprehensible that a bank that will again book billions in net profit this year should slash its workforce by so much”.

“This is particularly the case given bank staff face far too high pressure at work and absenteeism is at a historic high,” said Anne Gorter. “People are being treated as a cost, when it is them who built the bank up.”

Bérard has said most of the jobs to go involve support staff and that AI can take over some of their work. Some 35% of staff in customer service, operations and money laundering checks are likely to go, the AD said.

She also told the Financieele Dagblad that jobs will go in all departments but specifically mentioned the anti-money laundering and mortgage units. Around half the job losses will come through not replacing staff who leave the company.

ABN Amro, in which the Dutch government still owns a stake, says the aim of the cuts is to “deliver profitable growth and enhanced value for all stakeholders” and boost financial targets.

The bank, Bérard said, aims to strengthen its position in retail banking and become a top-five private bank in Europe. “Supporting family wealth and businesses remains a key priority, as they are the backbone of the economy,” she said.

The bank will also “drive growth” by supporting key European transitions in areas such as digitalisation, energy, mobility and defence.

The ABN Amro job losses are far from the first major redundancy rounds to hit the Dutch banking sector in recent months as they turn to AI for routine work.

More job cuts

Last week ASN Bank said it was cutting its workforce by around 25% to save €80 million a year, and has already reduced its workforce by 700 over the past two years.

ING has also told the state benefit agency UWV that it is cutting 950 jobs at its Dutch arm this year and next, broadcaster NOS reported. ING Nederland has a workforce of 12,800.

In October the Financieele Dagblad said that the big Dutch banks expect to shed around 2,600 jobs in their anti–money laundering departments within two years as they turn to artificial intelligence to handle routine work.

At present, some 13,000 people — roughly a fifth of the sector’s staff — are employed full time in these departments, costing the industry €1.4 billion a year, according to Dutch banking association figures.