MILAN: UniCredit has signed an agreement with labour unions for the employment of 500 people and 1,000 voluntary redundancies, Italy’s banking union Fabi said on Thursday.

Under the agreement, 600 staff will be retrained and will then be largely moved to the Italian bank’s branch network, Fabi added in a statement.

Commerzbank, UniCredit to meet Friday morning, source says

Italy’s second-biggest bank started talks with unions on Sept. 6.

The moves come after Orcel said it was time to lighten the central offices after earlier cuts hit the network.