Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) has announced that it is moving its head office from Tel Aviv to Lod. Leumi is following in the footsteps of other major Israeli banks, which are leaving Tel Aviv for locations where rents and property prices are lower. Leumi also announced another streamlining round of staff cuts.
A joint statement issued by Bank Leumi management headed by CEO Rakefet Roussak-Aminoach and the workers committee headed by Miri Rubino said, "As part of the streamlining process, Leumi will gradually transfer the bank's head offices from Tel Aviv and Central Israel to the computer campus in Lod, with the aim of concentrating all its offices under one roof." Estimates are that the move will be completed within two years.
Similar steps have been taken by Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT), which is moving from Tel Aviv to Rishon Lezion and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (TASE:MZTF), which has already moved from Tel Aviv to Ramat Gan.
The agreements between Bank Leumi's management and workers committee allows for 700 jobs to be cut by 2020. Leumi hopes that 250 staff will leave by the end of 2019 as part of an early retirement program. At the end of 2018, Leumi Group had 9,740 employees, of whom 8,637 worked for the bank, so that an 8% cut is planned by the end of 2020.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 26, 2019
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