Dive Brief:
- Capital One eliminated 1,100 “agile” technology roles this week, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources.
- “The agile role in our tech organization was critical to our earlier transformation phases but as our organization matured, the natural next step is to integrate agile delivery processes directly into our core engineering practices,” Capital One said.
- Employees affected by the cuts have been invited to apply for other positions at the company, the McLean, Virginia-based bank said in a statement shared with Banking Dive. Capital One has hundreds of open roles across the company, the bank said.
Dive Insight:
Capital One’s cuts this week make it just the latest financial institution to reduce headcount by 1,000 workers or more over the past month or two. Morgan Stanley in December said it would slash 1,600 jobs. Goldman Sachs last week began a cull that could cut loose 3,200 employees. And BNY Mellon last week announced it would cut 1,500 jobs this year.
Capital One’s cuts impact employees within the bank’s “agile” job family, the bank said. Responsibilities associated with the agile role will be integrated into existing engineering and product manager roles, Capital One said.
“By shifting oversight of execution and risk management to the teams already building and delivering software solutions, we further increase team collaboration and delivery speed,” the bank said, adding that the decision will help the bank deliver on the next phase of its tech transformation.
Employees affected by the cuts who are unable to secure another job within the bank will be eligible to receive a severance package that includes at least 16 weeks of compensation, retraining assistance and outplacement services, the bank said.
“Decisions that affect our associates, especially those that involve role eliminations, are incredibly difficult,” the bank said. “This announcement is not a reflection on these individuals or the work they have driven on behalf of our Technology organization. Their contributions have been critical to maturing our software-delivery model and our overall tech transformation.”
Capital One said it is actively hiring for engineering roles focused on cloud, data, machine learning and cybersecurity, as well as product managers.
Layoffs aren’t the only tool banks are using to control headcount. Bank of America initiated a partial hiring freeze in an attempt to quell costs and brace for a possible recession, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
Meanwhile, competitors JPMorgan Chase and Citi are actively recruiting despite economic headwinds.
JPMorgan Chase CFO Jeremy Barnum last week said the bank is still hiring and “in growth mode,” according to Reuters.
And Citi CFO Mark Mason said the firm is “actively hiring” while “re-pacing where that makes sense in light of the environment that we’re in,” the wire service reported.
