Scotiabank tells employees that some regional processing offices to close

Scotiabank (Photo from Scotiabank’s website)

TORONTO – Scotiabank is telling employees to get ready for certain offices to close over the next two years as it concentrates its workforce in two new hubs with more advanced technology.

The CBC is reporting that as many as 1,500 jobs could be affected, and says that one unidentified bank employee said she estimates about 200 people in her region alone would be affected.

Globalnews is reporting that nearly 400 people in Calgary were told about the downsizing plan on Thursday night.

But the bank says it hasn’t yet determined how many people will be out of work because there may be other opportunities within Scotiabank for the affected employees.

The affected operations were initially built to serve a branch network that operated mostly with paper – but since then consumers and banks have shifted increasingly to electronic and digital communications.

The bank said last week that it has created a “digital factory” in Toronto to house more than 350 tech jobs when it is fully functional next year.