Sumitomo Mitsui Financial increases planned cuts, to the equivalent of 5,000 employees' workload

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. will increase planned cuts to its head count that will now reduce work done by the equivalent of nearly 5,000 employees over the three years to March 2020, it was learned Wednesday.

Cuts reducing head count by the equivalent of around 4,000 employees were already planned.

The megabank group hopes to streamline its business further by speeding up efforts to automate over-the-counter services, and to go paperless through the use of information technology.

The number of domestic employees is expected to fall naturally by almost 4,000 over the three years, as new hires are being curbed and many workers are set to reach the mandatory retirement age, sources said.

Financial institutions in the nation are moving to rationalize their operations as prolonged superlow interest rates hurt their business performance.

Among the other megabank groups, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. has revised up its target for workload reductions by fiscal 2023 from the equivalent of 9,500 workers to over 10,000 workers, while Mizuho Financial Group Inc. is also expected to accelerate its employee reduction efforts.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

LATEST BUSINESS STORIES

Despite Trump's balanced budget boast, report shows U.S. deficit will exceed $1 trillion next year

The federal budget deficit is expected to balloon to more than $1 trillion in the next fiscal year under the first projections taking into account the big budget deal that President Donald Trump an...

U.S. has 501,000 fewer jobs than first reported, suggesting consumer spending slide

The U.S. job market isn't quite as strong as originally believed — with revised figures showing that the economy had 501,000 fewer total jobs this March than initially reported. The Labor Depart...

Fed chief Jerome Powell may signal future rate cuts but their effectiveness in doubt

The economy is slowing, the trade war is raging and the president is repeatedly attacking. Under the glare of a spotlight, Chairman Jerome Powell may signal Friday what the Federal Reserve will ...