How will the cuts happen? Do I need to expect a dismissal?

According to the framework social plan, the bank is relying on established, socially responsible tools: partial retirement, early retirement and termination agreements with severance pay. The goal is a reduction without hard cuts. For you, that means offers are being used, and offers are negotiable. Whether operational dismissals nonetheless threaten in individual cases depends on how the divisional negotiations progress.

How much is the severance pay at Commerzbank?

The amount follows from the framework social plan and the divisional rules, typically depending on length of service, age and salary. Bank social plans often work with factor models plus top-ups for partial retirement and early retirement. Only a calculation based on your specific offer is reliable, we work through that with you, including tax (the one-fifth rule) and the effect on unemployment benefit.

Partial retirement, early retirement or severance pay: which is better?

This is an individual calculation: severance pay paid out immediately (tax-favoured under the one-fifth rule, but with benefit suspension period (Sperrzeit) risk), partial retirement (predictable, but with pension and salary effects), or early retirement (a bridge to your pension, but with deductions). What matters is your age, pension points, entitlement to unemployment benefit and your prospects afterwards. We weigh up the options against each other in a free initial consultation.

What does the UniCredit situation have to do with this?

The "Momentum" programme is meant to boost returns and efficiency, partly to defend the bank's independence against a possible takeover by UniCredit. For employees, that means double uncertainty: even after the current round of cuts, a takeover could bring further restructuring. All the more reason to check every offer for its long-term viability.

What does advice from you cost?

The initial consultation costs nothing. If you engage us, we work on a success basis via litigation funding, you bear no upfront cost risk.

Severance Pay at Commerzbank 2026: What Matters Now

Around 3,900 full-time positions by 2028: about 3,300 at Commerzbank AG in Germany, around 600 at subsidiaries and partly abroad. The details for each business division are being negotiated with the employee representative bodies (source: Commerzbank press releases).

Reviewed by specialized labor lawyers · Updated: July 2026

As part of its strategy programme "Momentum", Commerzbank is cutting around 3,900 full-time positions by 2028, about 3,300 of them in Germany, the rest at subsidiaries and abroad (source: Commerzbank press release).

A framework social plan (Rahmensozialplan) and a framework reconciliation of interests (Rahmeninteressenausgleich) have been agreed with the employee representative bodies (sources: Commerzbank press release, WirtschaftsWoche).

Tools used: mainly partial retirement and early retirement offers, plus termination agreements (Aufhebungsverträge) with severance pay. The bank is aiming for a socially responsible reduction.

At the same time, the bank is hiring selectively in growth areas: the cuts are a shift, not a pure downsizing course.

The background also includes fending off a possible takeover by UniCredit: the efficiency programme is meant to secure independence.

We review your termination agreement or severance offer at no upfront cost and on a success basis, without any upfront cost risk for you.

Job cuts at Commerzbank: what's happening right now?

As part of the strategy programme "Momentum", Commerzbank is cutting around 3,900 full-time positions by 2028: about 3,300 at Commerzbank AG in Germany, around 600 at subsidiaries and partly abroad (Commerzbank; Business Insider). At the same time, the bank is hiring selectively in growth areas.

The restructuring also serves to defend the bank's independence against a possible takeover by UniCredit, so the pressure for efficiency is likely to stay high.

Framework social plan: the agreed tools

A framework social plan (Rahmensozialplan) and a framework reconciliation of interests (Rahmeninteressenausgleich) have been agreed with the employee representative bodies (Commerzbank; WirtschaftsWoche). The reduction is meant to proceed in a socially responsible way, mainly through:

partial retirement offers for those approaching pension age,
early retirement schemes as a bridge to your pension,
termination agreements with severance pay for everyone else.

The details for each business division are still being negotiated. If you receive an offer, you're negotiating within an ongoing process in which the bank needs planning certainty. That's leverage you can use.

Severance pay, partial retirement or early retirement: the calculation

The three routes work in completely different ways. Severance pay is paid out immediately (exempt from social security contributions, taxed under the one-fifth rule), but risks a benefit suspension period (Sperrzeit) and a pause in unemployment benefit if the agreement is poorly drafted. Partial retirement and early retirement are more predictable, but cost you through pension deductions and reduced payments, and they tie you to how the restructuring plays out. Which option wins for you depends on your age, pension points, entitlement to unemployment benefit and your prospects afterwards, not on gut feeling.

Received an offer? Check it before you sign

What needs checking: the amount against the social plan and your profile, the benefit suspension period (Sperrzeit) risk, the notice period (§ 158 SGB III), waiver and settlement clauses (watch out for outstanding bonuses) and the tax structuring. Upload your document and the critical points are flagged within seconds, at no cost.

How it works with us

A free initial consultation, an assessment of your offer by the specialised partner law firm, and if you engage us, negotiation backed by litigation funding, with no upfront cost risk for you. Here's how the cost model works.

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