Projo Biz Blog

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC announced it plans to eliminate as many as 9,000 positions globally, affecting some 1,250 jobs at Citizens Financial Group in the United States.

The Providence-based group has retail operations in 12 states, according to company spokesman Michael Jones. As of February, the Citizens group employed 5,500 people in Rhode Island and 3,600 in Massachusetts.

The reduction, which will be done over the next two years in the U.S., amounts to roughly 5 percent of the work force, which now employs 24,000 people. The bulk of the eliminated jobs will be non-customer facing positions in the bank group's manufacturing division, which include jobs in purchasing, processing, property services and technology.

Jones said the company has not decided at what locations the job losses would take place, or what specific types of jobs would be affected.

The Citizen's group includes Citizen's Bank, New England's second largest and Charter One in the Midwest.

RBS, the largest bank controlled by the United Kingdom treasury, announced its plans to eliminate positions as a way to repay a government bailout. The financially-troubled institution posted a $34-billion lost for last year that forced it to accept a substantial capital infusion from the British government. In the U.S., Citizens group had reported a net loss of $929 million for last year.

The cuts, which total about 5 percent of RBS's global work force, include 4,500 jobs in Britain.

 Tags  bailout Charter One Citizens Financial Group economy Providence RI Royal Bank of Scotland United Kingdom

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