Spanish bank Banco Santander to fire 1,200 workers

Spain's Banco Santander, the Eurozone's largest bank by market value, plans to fire around 1,200 workers in Spain, Spain's economic newspaper Expansion reported on Thursday, citing union sources.

After the first meeting between union leaders and representatives of the bank, it has been reported that Banco Santander plans to carry out early retirements and voluntary redundancies.

Early retirements would be applied to workers aged 55 or over who would be paid 70 percent of their salary until they reach their retirement age, while those taking voluntary redundancies would be paid 40 days per year for the time they've worked at the bank up to a total payment of 24 months.

The bank plans to cut its staff by 5 percent, up to 1,200 workers, while the unions hope that figure can be reduced to 1,000.

Banco Santander announced at the beginning of the month that it would close between 400 and 450 branches in Spain in order to have bigger branches focused on advising clients on issues that involved commitments in the medium and long term.

On the other hand, the bank will close the smallest branches that perform mechanical transactions.

An agreement between the bank and unions is expected to be achieved before the summer. Enditem