Alpha Bank Offers Voluntary Redundancy Option

The restructuring mechanism was authorized by the EU Commission, as confirmed by an Alpha Bank delegate. The Bank which is the nation's fourth largest, follows competitors NBG, Piraeus, and Eurobank, who finalized comparable position reducing strategies in 2013.

An unnamed Alpha Bank employee stated, "The bank launched a voluntary separation scheme on Monday to rationalize staff numbers after the absorption of Emporiki Bank. The scheme is open to all staff and expires on Sept. 30", as reported by Reuters.

Alpha Bank's goal is to reduced approximately 15% to 20% of its payroll, according to the Bank employee. Last September, Piraeus decreased approximately 12% of its workers through a voluntary redundancy program.

Over 10% of Eurobank's workers left by way of last November's voluntary mechanism. Greece's largest bank, National Bank of Greece, administered a voluntary redundancy program last December, that 2,000 workers participated in.