Italy: with some 10,000 banking sector jobs set to be cut, the impact of digitalisation is the subject of debate

Three of Italy’s largest banks – UniCredit, UBI Banca and Banca Popolare di Milano – have in recent weeks announced thousands of job cuts as part of their respective strategic plans. Some 10,000 staff will depart, for the most part through early retirement arrangements. Unions in Italy, who are demanding that young people be recruited to counterbalance half of these departures, dispute the banks’ claims that the rise of digitalisation is a reason to cut jobs and close down branches. The evolution of the banking sector, which is under pressure from the rise of new technology, will be the subject of analysis by an ad hoc committee set up under the sector’s new collective agreement (see article n°11564).