Scotland will GAIN jobs from latest RBS redundancy move

RBS's ongoing quest to restructure at the behest of the EU has again taken a big bite out of its back office, with 3,500 roles set to go within its UK business services division. However, Scotland will actually benefit from the move.

12 offices in England, which carry out technical and back office functions, have been earmarked for closure, with around a third of the job losses coming as a direct result of the sale of 318 branches to Santander earlier this year.

In Scotland, approximately 4,500 people are employed in the business services arm, which accounts for around 20% of the group's activities in this area. This proportion is due to rise to around 30% as a result of the job losses elsewhere.

A number of people affected by the office closures will be offered the opportunity to relocate north of the border, and it's believed that new roles will also be created in Edinburgh, although RBS was unable to put a firm figure on this.

Around 150 "highly-skilled" technology jobs are also set to be relocated from the Netherlands to Scotland.

"We continue to make efficiencies across our business and adjust our plans in line with the divestments we have been required to make by the EU. We will do all we can to support our staff, offer redeployment opportunities wherever possible and keep compulsory redundancies to an absolute minimum," said the bank in a statement.