Announcement of roughly 400 layoffs follows Scotiabank cuts to 3% of global workforce
Desjardins is cutting around 400 jobs according to an announcement shared with BNN Bloomberg, citing concerns around the economic environment and the need to recoup money from prior investments.
BNN obtained a statement from Desjardins explaining that layoffs would primarily impact its offices in Montral and Levis, Quebec.
The CBC reports that the cuts represent about 0.6% of the firm’s workforce. Some of the cuts are expected to come via attrition, as vacated roles go unfilled.
“The current economic context adds an additional pressure that leads us to have a healthy and prudent management,” Desjardins said to BNN in an emailed statement. “This sound management leads us to keep a close eye on our costs, whether, for example, to take advantage of natural attrition, to assess the relevance of our vacant positions, or to ensure that our office space corresponds to the reality of hybrid working.”
CTV reports that Desjardins had laid off 176 people from their Montreal office earlier in June.
Desjardins spokesperson Jean-Benoit Turcotti said the following to CTV to explain some of this decision: “We have not yet recouped all the benefits of our massive investments in recent years, particularly in technology, and we need to step up the pace in this respect.”
Yesterday Scotiabank announced around 2,700 layoffs, amounting to approximately 3% of the bank’s global workforce. Difficult economic conditions such as rising deposit costs and slower loan growth, as well as poor performance on capital markets, were cited as reasons behind that bank’s decision.
On an August earnings call, Scotiabank CFO Raj Viswanathan emphasized the importance of expense management to the bank. He included staffing numbers as an aspect of their cost management approach. The layoffs at Scotia would come with charges of around $590 million after-tax, including restructuring, severance, and the consolidation and exit of certain real estate and service contracts.
Two months ago, RBC announced it had eliminated 1% of staff — over 600 people — and was planning to cut 2% of full-time equivalent staff over the next few months to reduce costs.
