● ABN Amro AI purge slashes 5200 jobs buyback boosts shares

The story we are covering today is not just about a bank’s restructuring. It is a highly symbolic event showing how AI is actually replacing jobs and the cold-hearted choices companies are making for profitability. From ABN Amro’s massive layoffs to the AI strategy hidden behind them, and even the financial moves to boost stock prices. It’s packed with the ‘qualitative changes in workforce structure’ that other news outlets rarely cover, so stick with me to the end.

ABN Amro’s Massive 2025 Restructuring: AI Transition and the Realization of Workforce Reduction

ABN Amro, a representative Dutch bank, has cut a whopping 1,500 jobs in 2025 alone. This isn’t the end. They have already achieved 30% of their total goal of cutting 5,200 jobs by 2028.

The reason this news is shocking is not just because the number of people decreased, but ‘why’ they reduced it. CEO Marguerite Bérard stated it very clearly: “AI will take over some of the tasks that employees used to do.”

Let me summarize the points we need to focus on here.

1. Quiet Restructuring Through Natural Attrition

Currently, ABN Amro has about 23,000 employees, and the company is using a ‘natural attrition’ strategy rather than forced layoffs. It’s a method of leaving the position vacant without refilling it when an employee resigns.

In the last quarter alone, 580 people left. It looks quiet on the surface, but internally, it is evidence that Digital Transformation is happening very powerfully. It means AI and systems are filling in the work that humans used to do.

2. Reducing External Workforce and Internalizing IT

What’s interesting is that while reducing employees, they are bringing IT-related work from external contractors to in-house.

Usually, companies outsource a lot to cut costs, but ABN Amro is going the opposite way. This is interpreted as a determination to view AI Automation technology as the bank’s core capability and control it directly. It is a strategy of eliminating simple tasks with AI while embracing core IT technologies internally.

3. The Balancing Act Between Worsening Profitability and Shareholder Return Policies

Looking at the 2025 performance, the situation is not easy.

• Net Profit: 2.3 billion euros (down 6% year-over-year)
• Costs: Increased by 3%

Interest income decreased due to the European Central Bank (ECB)’s interest rate cuts, but operating costs increased. A typical ‘cost efficiency’ problem has occurred. Do you see why CEO Bérard is so obsessed with restructuring? She intends to overhaul the cost-to-profit structure.

Nevertheless, to appease shareholders, they decided to spend 500 million euros on share buybacks and pay dividends. Underlying this is a Financial Analysis to defend the stock price even though performance has dropped.

The Key Takeaway Others Won’t Tell You: The Big Picture of ‘BUUT’ and ‘NIBC’ Acquisition

Most news focuses only on ‘layoffs’, but what’s really important is where ABN Amro is spending its money. You can see the future growth engines here.

‘BUUT’, A Digital Gambit to Capture the Youth

Last September, ABN Amro launched a new digital banking platform called ‘BUUT’. It was led by the team that created ‘Tikkie’, a popular payment app in the Netherlands.

Since it is still in the early stages, specific numbers haven’t been disclosed, but this platform targeting the younger generation is said to be receiving positive reactions. It can be seen as one of the strategies to respond to Market Volatility to capture young customers who are leaving because traditional banking is too cumbersome.

Bulking Up Through the Acquisition of NIBC

Another thing not to miss is the plan to acquire competitor NIBC Bank for about 1 billion euros. It is one of the largest mergers and acquisitions in the Dutch banking sector in recent years.

What this means is a very aggressive management strategy: “Internally, cut costs by reducing people (AI adoption), and externally, increase market dominance by growing size.” It’s not just cutting people because times are tough, but a struggle to survive in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution through constitutional improvement.

< Summary >

• Accelerated Restructuring: ABN Amro has cut 1,500 jobs in 2025 and plans to reduce a total of 5,200 by 2028 (30% progress).
• AI is the Core Point: They are seeking qualitative changes in workforce structure by replacing simple tasks with AI and strengthening internal IT capabilities instead of reducing external IT contractors.
• Financial Status: Net profit decreased by 6% due to interest rate cuts, but they are defending shareholder value through a 500 million euro share buyback.
• Future Strategy: Expanding market dominance and improving fundamentals through the launch of the youth-targeted digital banking ‘BUUT’ and the acquisition of NIBC Bank.

[Related Posts…]Analysis of ABN Amro Restructuring and AI AdoptionNIBC Acquisition and Dutch Banking Market Changes

*Source: https://nltimes.nl/2026/02/11/abn-amro-cuts-1500-positions-2025-30-planned-5200-layoffs-complete

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