RBC has cut jobs and is planning to cut more, bank reveals in quarterly earnings showing profit rise

Canada’s biggest bank has cut about one per cent of its work force in the last few weeks and is planning to cut up to two per cent more over the next few, RBC revealed in its quarterly earnings on Thursday.

The Royal Bank of Canada, the most valuable company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, revealed quarterly results on Thursday that showed profits increased by $295 million to $3.9 billion, as just about all divisions of the bank’s multifaceted business showed growth.

The strong financial results came against the backdrop of the job cuts, as the bank revealed it has trimmed jobs and is planning more.

The bank all but telegraphed its intentions to trim staff earlier this summer, as CEO Dave McKay told analysts in May that it had over-hired in recent months.

“Honestly, we overshot — we overshot by thousands of people,” McKay said last quarter.

For the three months up until the end of July, RBC said it trimmed about one per cent of its work force. “We expect to further reduce [staffing] by approximately one-to-two per cent next quarter,” the bank said.

The bank has roughly 97,000 employees, it says, which means the existing cuts amount to almost 1,000 people, and the cuts to come could be twice that.