The restructuring comes as Nordea reported an adjusted profit of 10.2 billion SEK for Q1 2026, in line with market expectations, despite a declining net interest income of 11.1 billion SEK. The decision is linked to Nordea's 2030 strategy presented at the Capital Markets Day in November 2025, which aims to achieve annual gross cost savings of at least 600 million euros through initiatives related to Nordic economies of scale.
The workforce reduction will occur during 2026–2027 after negotiations and consultations with unions, Nordea said. At the turn of the year, Nordea had just under 29,000 full-time employees, according to TT. During 2025, Nordea reduced its number of employees by about 1,200, Dagens industri reported.
As part of the strategy, Nordea CEO Jens Henriksson announced the intention to sell the invoice service Payex to streamline strategy around card and consumer credits and free up capital. Technology, data, and AI are described as central parts of the strategy, according to Nordea. The bank plans to transform national customer processes into Nordic value chains and reduce, simplify, and modernize systems and technical infrastructure. Nordea states that with Nordic economies of scale, effects of AI, and process optimization, it expects to have fewer employees in the future.
Nordea emphasizes that it will support affected employees by offering retraining, further education, and opportunities to apply for relevant internal jobs. However, there are contradictions in the reported cost figures. SVT reported the reorganization cost as 1.3 billion SEK in one-time expenses next year, while Nordea stated restructuring costs of 190 million euros (approximately 2 billion SEK) recognized in Q1 2026. Similarly, the annual savings target from workforce reduction is reported as approximately 1 billion SEK from 2028 by Nordea, but Nordea also stated annual cost savings of at least 150 million euros (1.6 billion SEK) from full-year 2028. The exact number of employees to be laid off and the specific departments or regions most affected remain unclear.