Nationwide hands redundancy notices to nearly 500 staff

(Sharecast News) - Nationwide Building Society has told 470 of its staff that they are at risk of redundancy, it emerged on Friday. The decision, coming just before Christmas, was part of a broader restructuring spearheaded by its ex-TSB chief executive officer, Debbie Crosbie.

Ultimately, the restructuring programme was expected to impact around 1,000 employees.

The Guardian reported that the restructuring efforts would primarily affect personnel in the lender's chief operating office, retail operations, and its mortgages and financial wellbeing division.

The announcement came just a few days after Crosbie decided to rescind the 'work anywhere policy' introduced by her predecessor Joe Garner during the pandemic, which allowed Nationwide's 13,000 staff - particularly those not working in branches - to work remotely.

From early next year, most staff will be required to spend at least 40% of their contract, or two days a week, in the office.

The Swindon-based Nationwide told affected employees of the impending redundancies late last month, the Guardian reported, and had since entered consultations with them.

While employees would have the option to volunteer for severance packages, most job cuts were expected to be compulsory.

The building society reportedly expected about 200 staff to lose their jobs by the end of March.

The Guardian quoted a Nationwide spokesperson as saying that the lender had tried to minimise the number of affected employees.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.