CaixaBank plans to announce the details of the merger with Bankia on 20 April.

It is estimated that up to 8,000 jobs will be cut from the workforce of more than 50,000 workers that make up the two institutions.

The management of CaixaBank has called a new meeting with the trade unions to reveal the staff cuts it will propose for the merger with Bankia. After a first technical meeting to set up the negotiating table and establish a schedule of meetings, the bank has proposed a new meeting next Tuesday, 20 April, in which it will detail the causes and provide the initial figures for negotiating the Redundancy Proceedings (ERE), according to union sources.

It is estimated that the number of departures could reach up to 8,000 employees. The group resulting from the merger between CaixaBank and Bankia will have a network of more than 6,000 branches and more than 50,000 employees, of which around 8,000 are over 50 years of age.

CaixaBank’s management intends to cover departures on a voluntary basis and on the basis of meritocracy. «Age should not be a criterion for many reasons,» said Gonzalo Gortázar, CEO of CaixaBank, in an interview with EXPANSIÓN.

The bank expects to reach an agreement with the unions before June, although most of the departures will not become effective until after the technological integration, which will be the last step for CaixaBank and Bankia to operate as a single bank and which is scheduled for the end of this year. Technological integration is crucial to achieve the synergies expected from the transaction.

The new CaixaBank pledged to achieve gross cost synergies of €770 million, to be fully achieved in three years.

Source: Expansión.