Deutsche Bank announces 3500 layoffs, €1.6B in share buybacks and dividends

Deutsche Bank is cutting 3,500 jobs as it pushes ahead with a plan to reduce costs by €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) by 2025.

Germany’s biggest lender said Thursday that it had made progress towards the target but still had to find savings of €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion), some of which would be driven by “simplified workflows and automation.” Most of the jobs will be lost in back office functions, it added in a statement.

The cuts amount to about 4% of the company’s global workforce.