MILAN—Italian lender UniCredit has signed an agreement with unions for 1,200 voluntary job cuts to be partly offset by 725 new hires, the country’s biggest banking union said on Thursday. The accord follows a new three-year plan to the end of 2024 presented on Dec. 9 by Chief Executive Andrea Orcel, who had taken over in April from predecessor Jean Pierre Mustier. At the time UniCredit had not disclosed job cuts, saying it first had to negotiate with unions. The FABI union welcomed the accord reached overnight, saying the proportion of six news hires for every 10 departures was a first. Italian banking unions have traditionally aimed to offset 50 percent of layoffs with the hiring of younger staff. Layoffs in Italy’s banking sector target older employees because they are carried out exclusively through costly early retirement schemes funded by lenders. After the presentation of the “UniCredit Unlocked” 2022-2024 plan, …