Bank to double debt staff numbers claim
THE BBC claimed this morning that the newly-nationalised Northern Rock is to double the number of staff dealing with customer debt management as homeowners struggle to repay loans.
According to leaked documents which revealed the schedule for job cuts announced in March, the bank planned to axe 1,400 positions by March 2009 with a total of just over 2,000 staff going by the end of 2011. The bulk of the losses would come from sales.
The internal memo reportedly said the bank had the equivalent of 176 full time workers in the debt management division at the end of April but this number is set to increase to 444.
In a trading statement issued earlier this month, executive chairman Ron Sandler said the level of mortgages three months and over in arrears was 0.95% at the end of April, up from 0.57% at the end of last year.
The bank is trying to reduce its loan book from £100bn to about £50bn as part of moves to repay about £24bn of Government debt.
As part of the post-nationalisation restructuring, staff numbers are being slashed from about 5,400 people to 3,400.
The memo said the number of customer service staff at Northern Rock would be cut from 1,152 to 478 next year, eventually falling to 369 by 2011. Contact centre staff numbers will also more than halve, from 744 to 350.
But there are no plans to make cuts among staff dealing with savings as bosses try to increase deposits held.
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