RBC Investor & Treasury Services in March entered talks with unions on a social plan to regulate layoffs at the company. Following a 2013 social plan cutting 210 jobs and an ongoing redundancy agreement reducing headcount by another 201 employees, the latest round of layoffs affects 241 jobs.

RBC employs more than 1,100 people in Luxembourg, with the redundancies planned as a cost-cutting measure. The group has around 85,000 employees worldwide.

More than half of business leaders anticipated cost-cutting measures in 2021 in a survey published by Luxembourg for Finance in November last year.

The social plan signed on 31 March provides financial compensation to people losing their jobs. It also “provides for measures that will allow the employees concerned to adapt their skills to any new needs of the financial sector or even reorientation on the labour market,” an official statement said.

The Aleba, LCGB and OGBL unions called talks with RBC management constructive but nonetheless slammed the lender’s decision to proceed with layoffs during the pandemic.

“Unions have called on the management to do everything in their power to ensure the sustainability of the Luxembourg site and thus guarantee the jobs and lives of the employees,” they said.