The major banking groups on the planet will cut tens of thousands of jobs in the coming years, the result of a rain of challenges such as the digital revolution, low rates or the emergence of new players. Latest announcements to date, that Tuesday of the banking giant HSBC and that the week before of the Italian group UniCredit. In some establishments, future hires will compensate for these cuts.
Here is a summary of the main announcements in recent months:
• HSBC
Banking giant HSBC, which employs 235,000 people, on Tuesday unveiled radical reorganization plans involving the loss of 35,000 jobs in three years and a reduction in its activities in the United States and Europe, after having suffered a fall of 53 in 2019 % of its net profit. The group, already engaged in a vast cost reduction plan, now plans to reduce its workforce by almost 15%.
• UniCredit
The Italian bank UniCredit had announced in December, as part of its 2019-2023 strategic plan, a plan of 8,000 job cuts, in addition to the 14,000 full-time equivalents already cut since 2017. UniCredit confirmed to unions last week that it intended to cut 6,000 jobs and close 450 agencies in Italy by 2023, angering these organizations.
• Morgan Stanley
The American investment bank Morgan Stanley is engaged in the elimination of more than 1,500 jobs worldwide, or 2% of its workforce, in order to save money and adapt to the economic environment, reported in late December American media.
The most affected functions are in the technology department, support functions and in-house analysts. Traders are not spared either, said the media. Morgan Stanley, headquartered in Times Square in central Manhattan, employed 60,532 people as of September 30.
• Societe Generale
The French group was one of the first in 2015 to announce the overhaul of its retail network in France, given the drop in agency traffic and the digital shift. Between 2016 and 2020, Societe Generale, which employs more than 147,000 people, has programmed the elimination of more than 5,000 positions.
Read also: European banks: more than 44,000 job cuts
• Commerzbank
In crisis for several years, the second German bank announced in mid-September the loss of 4,300 jobs worldwide and 200 branches. At the same time, it plans to create 2,000 jobs. In 2016, it announced a plan to reduce 9,600 jobs by 2020 which has already been completed.
• Deutsche Bank
The first German bank announced in early July the largest restructuring plan in its history with the loss of 18,000 jobs by 2022. Last year, it had already cut 6,000 jobs.
• Barclays
After several years of sawtooth results, the British bank, plagued by litigation in the United States and in its country, returned to the green in 2018 and in 2019. In early August, the bank said it had cut 3000 jobs during of the second quarter of 2019 and want to further reduce its costs.
• BNP Paribas
The BNP Paribas group is currently negotiating a voluntary departure plan in its asset management subsidiary in order to reduce its Paris workforce by 10%. At the end of August, the first French bank had also confirmed that it plans to cut around 20% of the workforce at its securities conservation subsidiary in France, a reduction from 446 to 546 positions by 2021. In March, BNP Paribas Fortis, its Belgian subsidiary, confirmed that it would reduce its number of branches by 40% and cut some 2,200 jobs within three years. In Italy, the bank launched an early retirement plan this summer, reducing its workforce by 1,500 positions by 2021.
• Santander
The Spanish bank announced in June the cut of 10% of its workforce in Spain, or 3,200 jobs. This restructuring is the consequence of the absorption in 2017 of its rival Banco Popular. In early 2019, the first bank in the euro area by market capitalization had also announced the reduction of its network in the United Kingdom, resulting in the loss of 1270 jobs.
• CaixaBank
The third Spanish bank CaixaBank has negotiated with the unions a voluntary departure plan providing for the elimination of more than 2,000 jobs by the end of 2020.
• And also...
The Belgian bank-insurer KBC plans to cut 1,400 jobs in Belgium by 2022 in order to improve its "operational efficiency" . The German regional bank HSH Nordbank plans to cut 700 jobs out of a total of 1,700, a measure that comes shortly after its takeover by private investors.
