Lloyds Bank cuts 450 jobs to make way for digitisation roles

Lloyds Banking Group has made 450 job roles defunct as a result of customers increasingly moving to digital channels for services.

The bank said it will create 255 roles to help it support this change in customer behaviour, with the net reduction in staff of 195 mainly coming from the back office.

Customers are increasingly using digital channels, such as mobile apps, to do their banking. “As part of these changes, we are creating roles as we continue to adapt and evolve to support changes in customer behaviour,” said a Lloyds Bank spokesperson.

The roles are part of the £3bn investment in a three-year business transformation project, announced in February, which includes significant IT investment.

“The investment will see a stronger focus on new technology and people, equipping teams with the specific skills required to advise and support our customers,” added the Lloyds spokesperson.

“Today’s announcement involves making difficult decisions, and we are committed to working through these changes in a careful and sensitive way.”

Lloyds has already cut around 250 jobs in its IT team in February, but has offset this with the creation of 150 positions as it turns its attention to customer-focused IT.

Rob MacGregor, national officer at union Unite, said: “According to recent Lloyds Banking Group TV adverts, ‘We’ve come a long, long way together through the hard times and the good’.

“However, there appears to be no such sentiment for the colleagues whose hard work and dedication has enabled the group to return to private ownership, make significant profits and to deliver their ‘help Britain prosper’ strategy.”

The rapid digitisation of banking and the increased use of technology by consumers to do their banking has meant job cuts, which followed the financial crisis of 2008, have continued.

In 2009, Unite described the strategy at the bank – then known as Lloyds TSB – as “death by a thousand cuts”.