Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo is cutting thousands of jobs due to artificial intelligence

By 2027, 9,000 jobs are scheduled to be eliminated, primarily through early retirement.

Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, is cutting thousands of jobs due to advancing digitalization and the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI). By 2027, 9,000 jobs will be eliminated, primarily through early retirement, the bank announced, citing a similar agreement with unions. This equates to about ten percent of the bank's total employees.

Of the jobs, 7,000 jobs will be lost in Italy and 2,000 jobs in foreign subsidiaries. In a second step, Intesa Sanpaolo plans to employ “3,500 young people on permanent contracts” by June 2028, who will be used in particular in asset management. The goal is to “accelerate generational change” in order to create a “flexible business model” in the context of digitalization and artificial intelligence.

Saving 500 million euros

The bank wants to allocate 350 million euros for end-of-service payments for early retirement agreements. From 2028 onwards, staff changes, including new hires, should result in annual savings of €500 million.

The rival bank, Austria's parent company, UniCredit, reached an agreement with unions last week for 1,000 voluntary departures and 500 new employees in Italy. A further 250 appointments are scheduled to be made as part of a staff revamp later. (APA/AFP)