ING to slash 3,500 jobs in Belgium

The unions of ING Belgium are calling for a strike this Friday, after ING Group today confirmed that, by 2021, up to 3,500 jobs will disappear in the Belgian branches of the bank and its subsidiary Record Bank.

The announcement was made this morning during a special council meeting, where it was first made known that restructuring plans within the Dutch multinational will lead to 3,150 redundancies in Belgium. CEO Rik Vandenberghe later added that the Belgian branches would have 3,500 less employees in five years' time.

Half of the Belgian offices of ING Bank and Record are set to disappear, Vandenberghe said, as the bank's plans include the permanent closing of some 600-650 branch offices across the country.

Belgium and the Netherlands will join together to become one integrated banking platform, but will exist as two different public limited companies with separate balances. ING Belgium and Record Bank will also merge during the operation, with which ING aims to save €900 million. It will then invest €800 million in its "digital transformation", for a greater focus on online banking.

While Vandenberghe says that he “understands the emotional impact of the decision," he is nonetheless "convinced that the transformation is essential to maintain a strong and leading company in the long term."