Rabobank is preparing a change of strategy which will lead to thousands of job cuts, the Financieele Dagblad says on Wednesday.

Both the headquarters and local branches will be hit by the job losses, the paper says.

The paper bases its claims on sources within and outside the bank and on an internal document outlining the strategy rethink up to 2020. Details of the plan are due to be published in early December.

In particular, consultancy McKinsey has been brought in to analyse Rabobank’s human resources, marketing and control departments, the paper says.

The FD says Rabobank is dealing with two major problems. Firstly, its return on investment lags behind that of ING and ABN Amro and its annual profits should be €1bn higher. Secondly, the bank needs to strengthen its capital position to ensure it meets new standards.

Rabobank has a workforce of 46,500, of whom 30,000 are in the Netherlands. The strategy document implies up to 8,000 jobs will go but the unions expect this to be higher, the FD says.

Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost in the Dutch financial sector since the start of the economic crisis.