This is despite the bank turning a profit of €1.9bn in 2024. The high street bank has also stated that it intends to keep its brach network largely intact – there are currently 182 acorss the country.
,However, CEO Myles O’Grady told reporters that job cuts would have to be made to maintain operating costs at around €2bn.
,The €1.9bn profit represented a slight decline on the previous year. In addition, operating costs rose by 6% last year to €1.97bn, exclsuing regulatory charges and government levies, and are forecast to rise by another 3% in 2025.
,At the same time, Bank of Ireland has committed to keeping its current number of branches open.
,The bank currently employs around 11,200. While O’Grady said that he does not have a “headcount target”, the bank isaiming to be a “more lean organisation”.
,“I do expect our full-time employment levels to be lower in three years than they are today. It’s less about a headcount target, but full-time employment levels will be lower,” said O’Grady.
,The plan is to reduce numbers over the next three years. And while there may be some “targeted redundancies”, there is no “structured, bank-wide scheme”.
,It remains to be seen if any of the job cuts will target employees working on the tech siude of the business.
,Bank of Ireland has invested in its technology in recent years. In January, it announced a €100m investment in technology for retail and SME services.
,This came on the back of spending €50m last February to install new ATMs at its branches.
,In addition, the bank also launched a recruitment drive last June to hire 100 tech specialists for its digital channels.
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