The departure of 5% of the staff aims to “consolidate and streamline certain activities and functions, eliminate hierarchical layers to lighten decision-making processes” and to “resize certain teams,” the group explained in a press release. In order to achieve this, “in addition to voluntary departures,” Société Générale – which employs around 56,000 people in France out of 117,500 worldwide – is not expected to “replace all retirements,” according to an internal source.
The group’s central functions in La Défense, near Paris, as well as the IT department, are expected to be primarily affected, as noted by Les Echos. Contacted by Le Figaro on Saturday, the group’s management declined to make any further comments.
This staff reduction plan is the first under Slawomir Krupa, who has been the bank’s CEO since May 2023. The bank had announced on September 18 a target of 1.7 billion euros in savings by 2026 (compared to 2022), during the presentation of the bank’s strategic directions by Slawomir Krupa, which was poorly received in the stock market.
This figure included already announced savings, such as those generated by the merger of the two retail banking networks in France, Société Générale and Crédit du Nord, and by the acquisition of Leaseplan by the automotive leasing subsidiary ALD. The merger of Société Générale and Crédit du Nord’s networks involves a significant reduction in the number of branches – 1,450 branches in 2025 compared to 2,100 five years earlier – and 3,700 jobs cut, an “effort” spread across 2023 (about 30%), 2024 (50%), 2025 (20%), without forced departures.
Several unions had expressed their concerns in recent days. “Given the trauma experienced by employees who see successive job reduction plans… it is urgent that the management speaks about these potential projects,” insisted the bank’s largest union.
The CGT Société Générale (3rd organization) had stated on its website last Thursday that “for a few weeks, all the floors of the historical towers of La Défense’s Société Générale have been requisitioned” as of Monday, in anticipation of the announcement of the job reduction plan. “We now expect an honest and transparent presentation of the extent of the reorganizations, their real economic justifications, their motivations, and their medium or long-term objectives,” the union demanded.