Bankers, 75,000 fewer since 2004. CISL launches an employment pact

Since 2004, the banking category has lost 75,000 workers. In fact, data processed by the Fiba Foundation (First Cisl) say that on 31 December 2004 there were 337,023 bankers as a whole. On 31 December 2024 there were 261,653. All this, says the secretary general of First Cisl, Riccardo Colombani, "despite the fact that there have been over 40,000 hirings with the Employment Fund". These are numbers that, in view of the banking risiko and the five announced operations involving over 100 thousand bankers, make Colombani say that 'a new employment pact is needed'. Also in view of what has happened in the last three years.

In the period from 2021 to 2024 alone, the country's five largest banks have reduced their employment perimeters by 20,000 workers, with UniCredit in the lead with 10,410 fewer bankers, a drop of more than 12%, according to the Fiba Cisl Foundation's review. Next is Intesa Sanpaolo with a reduction of 2,951 or 3%, then Banco Bpm with 947 fewer workers (-4.6%), Mps with a reduction of 4,517 (-21.3%), Bper with 1,896 (-8.9%). At the congress of the First Cisl - which closes tomorrow in Rome - on the one hand there was appreciation for the important economic recognition of 435 euro of the last renewal, but on the other hand there was concern about 'the draconian reduction of employment in non-cooperative banks,' Colombani stressed. Numbers in hand, in 2024, according to data compiled by the Fiba Foundation, the ratio of labour costs to operating income has fallen further to 24.3% (from 24.8%), and labour costs are still falling due to the reduction in employment. For Colombani, 'shared governance is needed between employer associations and trade unions'.

On the transaction underway between Unicredit and Banco Bpm, according to the Banco's trade union coordination, the impact on employment and branches of the merger would be "much more serious" and "worrying" than Unicredit's proposal to Dg Comp to divest around 209 branches, equal to 14% of the Banco's network. "In many provinces the share of branch overlaps exceeds 20% and this could/should induce the Italian Antitrust Authority to intervene in the event of a merger," estimates Banco Bpm's First Cisl, which draws up a list of 40 Italian provinces in which the share of branch overlaps exceeds the "critical threshold" of 20% that should prompt the Italian Antitrust Authority to intervene. Both the historical data and the announcements of the recent plans are enough for First Cisl to speak of concrete fears for the workers, who will be 'transferred or forced into geographical and/or functional mobility', with the territories, which will be 'impoverished by the loss of fundamental garrisons for businesses, families and citizens, hitting the most fragile territories', and the customers, who will 'suddenly' see their credit reduced. This is why the Cislin trade union takes a clear position and says it 'does not agree with a manoeuvre that would put at risk employment levels, the quality of work, credit to businesses and the quality/continuity of banking services in the territories involved'.

In his report Colombani explained to the 500 delegates present in Rome that 'the banking-insurance risiko revolves exclusively around the interests of shareholders and top managers: workers and customers of banks are considered marginal subjects. All the takeovers leverage on cost reduction, except for one that foresees a prevalence of revenue synergies. No value will be created for companies and households. The Italian banking system excels in Europe in terms of the percentage of commissions on assets and the weight on total revenues. It is illusory to assume a decrease with the further concentration of the banking system. Credit to non-financial companies will continue to decrease, after having dropped by 330 billion from 2011 to 2024. Multi-credit will weigh heavily. However, it is increasingly evident that Italian banks prefer to bet on asset management, which offers excellent returns, few risks and frees up capital to be used for buybacks to pump up share values'.

Between risk and artificial intelligence, the banking category seems to be one of those most in the crosshairs, and the union response, according to CISL, cannot be limited "to voluntary exits through the Solidarity Fund. The maintenance of employment levels is also threatened by the impact of artificial intelligence systems,' Colombani recalls. 'However, as a study by Inapp has shown, there is a high degree of complementarity with banking, insurance and financial work. New cuts would therefore be completely unjustified, not least because the ratio of labour costs to operating income is increasingly low'.