Trade unions in Romanian banks expect 25% workforce cutdown amid higher taxes

The trade union of the employees in Romanian banks fear that some 25% of the employees (10,000-12,000) will be made redundant as an effect of the ordinance 114/2018 that enacts a supplementary tax on financial assets, significantly eroding banks’ earnings. "We have information that 25% of employees in the banking system will be laid off if the ordinance that introduced the asset tax remains in its current form," said Paraschiv Constantin, president of the Federation of Insurance and Banking Unions (FSAB), according to local Profit.ro. As of January 30, FSAB has already started discussing possible personnel restructuring with the heads of human resources departments and will meet with their top management as well. The trade union federation signed the first collective labor agreement in its history with the Banking Employers' Council in Romania (CPBR) at the end of last year, before the Government announced the new taxes. The contract guarantees to the redundant employees a moderate number of compensatory salaries in each of the CPBR member banks, depending on the seniority: 1 salary for employees with 1 to 5 years of experience, two salaries for those with 5-10 years, 3 wages for those with 10-15 years and 4 salaries for those with more than 15 years worked in the same bank. Romanian banks put investments on hold ahead of “perfect storm” editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Pixabay.com)