Banco Santander has opened negotiations with labor unions in Spain over a voluntary early retirement scheme that could affect between 2,000 and 3,000 employees. That’s roughly 10-15% of the bank’s approximately 20,000-person Spanish workforce, and it’s happening for one reason: the machines are getting good enough to do the paperwork.
The move is part of Santander’s broader push to embed artificial intelligence across its operations, with an ambitious target of generating more than €1 billion in combined revenue gains and cost savings between 2026 and 2028. Of that figure, over €500 million is expected to come specifically from automation and process simplification.
What the deal actually looks like
The talks, first reported by Spanish daily Expansión and confirmed by Reuters, center on creating a collective framework for voluntary departures rather than hitting a fixed headcount target. Think of it less as a layoff and more as a structured off-ramp, where eligible employees can opt into early retirement on negotiated terms.
The negotiations are still in their early stages, which means the final numbers could shift. But the 2,000-to-3,000 range gives a clear signal about the scale Santander is envisioning for its Spanish operations alone.
