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UBS currently has around 120,000 employees worldwide. After the takeover of Credit Suisse, there is now an excess of staff. Jobs have to go, people are losing their jobs.
How many positions are affected, where and in which areas will be communicated by UBS in the coming weeks.
According to reports, up to a third, i.e. 35,000 jobs, could be cut from the 120,000 employees worldwide. 10,000 of them in Switzerland.
Employees don’t wait to be fired
The dismantling has already started in the last few weeks – at the scandal-plagued investment bank CS. Many employees did not wait to be fired, as Sergio Ermotti, CEO of UBS, confirmed back in June. “It’s true that about 10 percent of the workforce left in the last few months, even before the takeover.”
For the Swiss business in particular, the information available is sparse and the uncertainty is correspondingly high. This is also confirmed by the bank recruiter Jonas Neff. He is currently receiving inquiries from CS employees who are looking for a plan B. The labor market is doing well, but not necessarily in the financial sector. The stock market year 2022 was very challenging, says bank recruiter Jonas Neff.
It is becoming more difficult for certain people to find a new job in their traditional area.
The overall results for the last year were manageable, which is why they are now more cautious about hiring on a large scale, Neff continued. “This certainly means that it will be really difficult for certain people with certain skill sets to find a new job directly in their traditional area.”
Change of industry with hurdles
A few are also considering a change of industry. For example from banking to insurance. CS people have already been hired at Zurich Insurance. However: “Bankers do not have a good future in the insurance industry because they are two different industries,” says Mario Greco, CEO of Zurich Insurance.
There are areas like human resources or IT where we can take a closer look.
With regard to their careers, they would have different salary levels or development potential. However, Greco does not see the situation as completely hopeless: “There are areas, such as human resources or IT, where we would like to take a closer look.”
When asked, UBS did not want to comment on how many employees have left to date. The quarterly figures will follow at the end of August. By then at the latest it should be clearer how many will have to leave the big bank.