Banking unions are warning of burnout and loss of purchasing power in the diagnostics sector, which is represented by political parties with seats in parliament.

“High workload” is creating “burnout” situations in the banking sector, with the financial sector being the “only” one in the country with “an obvious decline in purchasing power”, according to a diagnosis published Wednesday by six trade unions.

Prepared by Mais Sindicato, the Portuguese Financial Sector Workers’ Union (SBN), the National Union of Banking, Insurance and Technology Workers (SBC), the CGD Group Companies Workers’ Union (STEC), the Independent Banking Union (SIB) and the Financial Workers’ Union (Sintaf), the diagnosis warns of the difficulties faced by some 90,000 bank employees in Portugal and calls for “concrete actions to ensure the dignity and well-being of workers.”

According to six trade unions, the document has been presented to political parties with seats in parliament, and hearings have also been requested from the President of the Republic.

Among the problems identified was the conclusion that bank employees “have a high workload, which leads to situations of ‘burnout’.”

“Employees increasingly adopt multitasking logic as customers may interact with financial institutions through multiple channels (branch, phone, email, app), and performing multiple tasks may lead to stress, significant fatigue, involuntary errors, and even situations that are difficult to return to, such as burnout,” they argue.

In addition, they say, “the pressure to perform additional work exists without appropriate pay incentives and with notices that they may be included in the list of workers subject to dismissal during the next restructuring.”

“For many years, this extra work has gone unpaid, as workers are subject to pressure to register, which, if registered, can easily be falsified or deleted. And despite consistent complaints from unions about working conditions to the ACT, inspections, if any, have had little effect, as the hierarchy forces workers into hiding,” the document says.

In addition, wage growth is below inflation (with the financial sector considered “the only one in Portugal with a clear decline in purchasing power” at 7.3%) from 2021, a requirement imposed by the digital transformation and the associated risks of artificial intelligence and automation of banking processes, which leads to “job insecurity”.

The diagnosis also states that “economic crises and bank restructuring have led to a lack of job security and a climate of fear in the sector,” in addition to “serious situations of harassment in the workplace,” from “humiliation in front of colleagues, suspension from work.” functions and replacement with tasks of a lower category, strict isolation, without work material and without assignment of skills” and which “may even lead to exclusion from the workplace.”

At the same time, career opportunities are “increasingly limited, leading to frustration among workers,” many of whom “are looking for growth and new challenges outside the banking sector, especially younger people, highlighting the aging of the banking class.” .

Given the current situation and the “importance of the financial sector,” the unions are calling for “concerted action by bank managers and policymakers to address these issues in a fair and effective way,” stressing that “it is necessary to promote a decent working environment, provide continuous training, guarantee job security and properly value bank workers.”

“Only in this way will it be possible to build a resilient and sustainable banking sector capable of meeting the challenges of the future,” he warns.