Santander set to hire 6,000 new staff

Santander, the Spanish banking group, is set to launch a recruitment drive that could see it hire 6,000 people as it presses ahead with UK expansion.

The bank, which has come under fire for poor customer service, plans to hire 600 people over the coming months to improve performance.

But those familiar with recruitment plans say it is in the market for up to 6,000 over the next year or two.

That would be in addition to 5,000 frontline employees it is inheriting from Royal Bank of Scotland as part of last month’s acquisition of 318 branches. Santander, which would not confirm the expansion plan, currently has a staff of 22,000.

The recruitment drive comes as other retail banks also step up hiring of frontline employees. Metro Bank, the start-up that opened a second London branch last week, is to hire 160 more people over the next two months.

Even the part-nationalised banks RBS and Lloyds are selectively hiring in retail banking, in stark contrast to the cuts in other areas of their operations. Last week RBS announced a further 3,500 back-office job cuts.

The build-up in retail bank front offices may surprise many observers, given continuing economic uncertainty.

Simon Maughan, an analyst at MF Global, said the move was pragmatic. “Banks . . . realise they need to improve customer service if they are going to make the most of their existing business.”

The hiring comes amid a further recovery in the financial services sector jobs market. Recruitment remains buoyant in the City, one of the few bright spots in the UK labour market as banks that slashed thousands of employees at the height of the credit crunch have tried to rebuild teams.

Albert Ellis, chief executive of City headhunter Harvey Nash, said that even as banks make cuts, they must recruit people with different skills to take advantage of growth markets.