Bank of Ireland (BoI) is expected to announce plans to axe 2000 back office jobs when it issues a trading update tomorrow.
According to press reports, back-office support staff and employees at the bank's mortgage processing centre in the UK will be affected by the move.
The cuts are expected to be announced in a trading statement, which will also detail the bank's restructuring plans.
The bank, which currently employs 12,000 staff at over 300 branches, is facing increasing competition from new entrants in the Irish banking market. Last week Danske Bank - which recently bought National Irish Bank - said it planned to open to new branches in the country, while HBOS-subsidary Bank of Scotland said it would expand its Irish retail business after acquiring Electricity Supply Board's branch network in Ireland.
The latest job losses are part of cost cutting measures implemented by Brian Goggin, who replaced former BoI chief executive Mike Soden last year.
Soden was forced to resign after admitting using his office PC to surf Internet porn and escort agency Web sites. He was caught out after a disgruntled IT employee ran a check on his PC. At the time the bank had been engaged in a bitter dispute with labour unions over plans to outsource 500 IT staff to HP.