Swiss banking giant UBS is preparing to cut 35,000 jobs in the coming months with the takeover of its former rival Credit Suisse, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. This figure represents more than half of Credit Suisse's 45,000 employees. When asked, UBS declined to comment. On March 19, UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse under pressure from the authorities for 3 billion Swiss francs (an equivalent sum in euros). The crisis of confidence, after a series of scandals and harsh criticism of risk management, had pushed Credit Suisse to the brink of bankruptcy.
At the end of 2022, the two Swiss banking giants had around 120,000 employees worldwide, including 37,000 in Switzerland. According to Bloomberg, citing two sources familiar with the matter, UBS intends to reduce this combined total workforce by about 30%, or 35,000 people. The agency said, citing the same sources, that employees have been told they should expect three waves of job cuts this year, with the first scheduled for the end of July. The other two would follow in September and October.
Read alsoCredit Suisse: a well-managed crisis but banks' liquidity must be strengthened
Employees of Credit Suisse's investment bank in London, New York and parts of Asia are expected to be the most affected by the downsizing. The fact that UBS's forced takeover of Credit Suisse is leading to job cuts is not new. Employment will be "the most difficult steering wheel" of integration, UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti recently said at the Swiss Economic Forum, a conference that brings together Swiss companies in Interlaken. He felt, however, that job cuts were inevitable if only because of duplication in some of the two banks' activities.