RBS outlines details of job cuts

700 jobs are to go in IT and property

The first details of where hundreds of jobs will be lost as part of a huge cutback by the Royal Bank of Scotland have been released.

Staff were told that 700 jobs are to go in the bank's IT and property division.

The Unite union said the news would be a "massive blow" to affected workers, with London and Edinburgh badly hit.

Last month the bank announced 4,500 cuts and said further details of which areas would be affected would be outlined over the next two years.

Unite national officer Rob MacGregor said staff across the company had been living with uncertainty about their future since last month.

He said: "This confirmation for employees in the IT and property divisions that they will be the ones hit is devastating."

The bank said the 700 posts to go would be spread across locations throughout the UK.

A spokesman for the bank said: "It is our firm intention to ensure that the number of compulsory redundancies is kept to an absolute minimum."

Cost savings

Earlier this year RBS announced the largest annual loss in UK corporate history - £24.1bn.

The bank which is now 70% owned by the taxpayer, plans to save £2.5bn over the next three years.

Lloyds announced more than 600 job losses on Tuesday, mainly hitting London and Edinburgh.

Earlier this year Unite calculated that finance firms had cut about 20,000 jobs in the first four months of 2009 and said the cull of skilled workers could jeopardise any future recovery.

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