RBS Cuts 215 U.K. Support Staff Jobs, Moves Roles Overseas

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Britain’s largest government-controlled lender, said it was cutting 215 U.K. jobs and moving the posts overseas.

The cuts will fall on support staff at the bank’s finance division, mainly in Edinburgh and London, a spokesman said. The reductions are in addition to the 6,800 job losses announced since August. About 250 posts will be created overseas, the lender said.

“As we work to rebuild RBS we continue to streamline our business,” the Edinburgh-based bank said in an e-mailed statement. “The movement of roles between countries reflects the global nature of our business and the need to locate our people close to the customers they serve.”

RBS’s Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hester, 51, who has said his job is equivalent to defusing the “biggest time bomb in history,” has shrunk the bank’s assets by more than 700 billion pounds and cut more than 35,000 jobs since he took over from Fred Goodwin in 2008.

“Instead of sending financial services work from the UK to a low-wage economy, RBS should be ensuring their workforce is able to get on with the work they do,” said Unite national officer David Fleming.

To contact the reporters on this story: Gavin Finch in London at gfinch@bloomberg.net; Howard Mustoe in London at hmustoe@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Evans at eevans3@bloomberg.net