By Elena Vardon

Dutch bank ABN Amro is pulling back on recruitment in a bid to keep its costs under control.

The group aims to manage costs effectively and strengthen its cost discipline, a spokesperson for the lender said. "By controlling vacancies, new hires, and the hiring of external capacity (contractors and agency staff), the bank can maintain its cost levels," they added.

Bloomberg first reported the hiring freeze.

ABN Amro has said it hopes to keep costs broadly flat at 5.3 billion euros ($5.8 billion) this year. The latest company-compiled consensus pencils in a 5.39 billion euros in operating expenses for 2025, which include 2.78 billion euros in personnel expenses.

The bank has invested in data capabilities and regulatory programs, which has led to an increase in staffing levels, the spokesperson said. "Although we initially encountered difficulties in sourcing qualified staff, in recent quarters, we successfully hired a large number of employees."

It had 21,976 internal full-time employees and 3,670 external ones at the end of 2024, according to its latest annual report. This compares with 20,872 and 4,092 the year prior.

In 2024, ABN Amro's personnel expenses amounted to 2.8 billion euros and rose 11% on year due to the impact of a new collective labor agreement and the increase in internal employees.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 07, 2025 08:35 ET (12:35 GMT)

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