(Montreal) The ax falls for the second time in a few months at Mouvement Desjardins while bad news accumulates for professionals in the Canadian banking sector.
The cooperative laid off “less than” 400 employees last week, confirms an employer spokesperson. Employees are based in the Montreal offices and at the Lévis head office. They come from different fields. The news was first reported by the Journal de Montréal.
Desjardins Group’s “difficult” decision was taken in a difficult context while the employer wanted to adopt “prudent management” of its expenses. “This sound management leads us to monitor our costs, whether for example: taking advantage of natural attrition, evaluating the relevance of our vacant positions or even having office spaces corresponding to the reality of hybrid work for example,” explains spokesperson Jean-Benoît Turcotti.
Mr. Turcotti emphasized that Desjardins Group had made significant investments in recent years. “We have not yet recouped all the benefits of our massive investments in recent years, particularly in technology, and we must accelerate the pace in this regard. »
In June, Desjardins Movement laid off 176 people in Montreal. Once again, the employer referred to the economic context to explain its decision.
In the second quarter, Desjardins revealed a rising surplus following an improvement in interest income and an increase in surpluses in the insurance sector. The allocation for losses, for its part, remained stable compared to last year.
The cooperative is due to unveil its third quarter results on November 9.
The layoff comes at a difficult time for the banking sector job market. Rising interest rates weigh on the finances of individuals and businesses. The day before, Scotiabank announced the layoff of approximately 3% of its global workforce, or nearly 2,700 employees.
During the pandemic, banks stepped up their recruiting efforts amid labor scarcity and massive investment in technology.
In May, Royal Bank President and CEO Dave McKay acknowledged that the country’s largest bank had overestimated its needs “by thousands of people” at the height of staffing shortages during the pandemic.