Swiss banking giant UBS is preparing to cut 35,000 jobs over the next few months with the takeover of former rival Credit Suisse, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
This figure represents more than half of Credit Suisse’s 45,000 employees.
When questioned by French news agency AFP, UBS declined to comment on the matter.
On 19 March, UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse - under pressure from the authorities - for 3 billion Swiss francs, an equivalent sum in euros. This was after a crisis of confidence sparked by a series of scandals and virulent criticism of risk management 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, which cites two sources close to the matter, UBS intends to reduce their combined workforce by around 30%, or 35.000 people.
The agency says, citing the same sources, that employees have been told to 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.
Credit Suisse’s investment banking employees in London, New York and parts of Asia are expected to bear the brunt of the job cuts.
The fact that the forced takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS will result in job cuts is nothing new. Employment will be “the most difficult flywheel” of the integration, UBS boss Sergio Ermotti recently told the Swiss Economic Forum, a conference of Swiss companies in Interlaken.
However, he felt job cuts were inevitable if only because of duplication in some of the two banks’ businesses.
