Bank of Bermuda has been talking to staff on the Island about possible redundancies, it confirmed last night.

Worried staff say they have heard management may be looking to lay off a substantial number of employees.

A bank spokeswoman confirmed that staff have been warned job cuts may be on the way because of tough market conditions, but no figures have been determined.

“The bank, like most of its competitors, is facing difficult market conditions and its revenues are under pressure, and as a normal business practice we look at opportunities to become more efficient,” said the bank spokeswoman.

“We have been open with staff in our discussions about the possible headcount reductions both here and abroad, as head-count is our largest expense.

“However, no targets have been set at this time.

“Such speculation is totally unfair and unsettling to our staff, who are all working very hard to meet the challenge of difficult markets.

“We will therefore continue to communicate directly with our staff on this issue and are always open for them to voice their concerns to us directly.”

The bank laid off four brokerage staff in March, but chief financial officer Ed Gomez denied at the time that it was looking at across-the-board redundancies.

He said in March that even if fee income and interest income were down, the workload remained the same.

“For this reason, we continue to believe that across-the-board reductions in our workforce would compromise our future, by diminishing our capability to maintain high delivery standards to our existing clients, and impairing our ability to take on new business,” said Mr. Gomez.