State-backed Lloyds Banking Group is axing about 625 jobs, according to the Unite union, making a further round of job losses under an aggressive cost-cutting plan. The cuts apply mainly to back office roles and more than 80 IT roles will be transferred from Britain to India, Unite said.
"Unite has made it clear that 'efficiency' cannot simply mean axing more jobs while expecting the same work to fall on fewer shoulders," Unite said. "The bank forgets that these relentless cuts have a human cost."
The job cuts are part of the reduction of about 9,000 roles, roughly 10 percent of its workforce, announced two years ago.
Lloyds said there would be a net reduction of 430 jobs when newly created roles are included. It is closing 21 branches in July as customers increasingly bank online and more functions are automated.