The state-owned Cyprus Cooperative Bank is allegedly set to unleash a wave of job cuts, with 800 to 1000 workers to be dismissed for 2018.
Potential investors are expected to ask employees to withdraw before purchasing the ‘good part’ of the bank, so their compensation to be paid by the state.
According to official sources from the Ministry of Finance, staff cuts are necessary, even if Co-operative is to be bought. More specifically, one part of the bank is to be transferred to a totally new scheme, another will be dealing with the “bad part” of the bank, while a third part has to be dismissed. Today, Cooperative Bank has 170 branches and a number of 2,660 employees. However, since 2016, the bank had not put in place a voluntary redundancy plan.
