LONDON (AP) — The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC said yesterday it has begun talks with unions over restructure of its back office operations that could cut as many as 9,000 jobs globally over the next two years.

RBS — which is majority-owned by the British government after accepting a £20 billion state bailout — said that around half the positions that could be affected are in Britain.

The bank added that the number of jobs lost is expected to be "significantly lower" than the headline figure due to redeployment, voluntary redundancy and natural turnover. But it didn't provide details on a lower figure.

The restructuring is part of RBS' plan to reduce annual costs by £2.5 billion ($3.7 billion) over next three years.

The very public downfall of RBS, a household name in Britain where it is heavily involved in retail banking, has been a lightning rod for much of the public disgust at mismanagement of major financial institutions by well-paid senior bankers.

Much of the criticism has been directed at the bank's former CEO Fred Goodwin, who led RBS into an expensive deal to take over the Dutch Bank ABN Amro, a debt-laden acquisition which was at the root of the bank's current problems.

Revelations that Goodwin will still pick up a multimillion pound pension from the bank has led to further indignation. Protesters attacked an RBS branch in London ahead of the Group of 20 summit of the world's major economies earlier this week and Goodwin's home in Edinburgh was vandalised last month.

New chief executive Stephen Hester said that the bank had to cut costs in the current climate, but wanted to be "as open and transparent as possible" about its plans.

"We have set a new strategy for RBS to restore the bank to stand-alone strength as soon as practicable," Hester said in a statement. "From this, we want the government to be able to realise value from its investment in RBS."

The bank posted a British record loss of £24.1 billion last year and shareholders have watched their assets plummet by 90 percent.

However, union leaders were quick to criticise the planned cuts in the group's manufacturing division, which provides support for the bank's customer-facing businesses, which include back office operations, purchasing, IT services, and property management.

"These employees are totally blameless for the current position which RBS is in, yet they are paying for the mistakes at the top of the bank," said Rob MacGregor, national officer at trade union Unite. Earlier yesterday, RBS confirmed that the taxpayer's stake had risen from 58 percent to 70.3 percent after investors shunned a share offering.

The result was widely anticipated given the bank's shares have consistently traded beneath the 31.75 pence offer price since January. The Treasury agreed to replace its £5 billion of preference shares, taken as part of the initial £20 billion rescue last year, with new ordinary shares. The stock was down 5.7 percent at 28.10 pence in midafternoon trade.