Insiders reveal prank plans
UBS wants to lay off half of the Credit Suisse workforce
6/27/2023, 9:47 p.m
After the emergency takeover of the ailing major Swiss bank Credit Suisse, UBS is apparently planning a drastic bloodletting of its former rival. Insiders reveal that more than half of the 35,000 CS jobs will be cut. There is no confirmation so far.
According to a media report, the Swiss bank UBS wants to cut more than half of the CS positions as a result of the takeover of rival Credit Suisse (CS). The layoffs are set to begin next month, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. UBS wants to reduce the entire workforce by around 30 percent. That corresponds to 35,000 employees. The number of employees at Credit Suisse is currently 45,000. Together, UBS and Credit Suisse have around 120,000 employees.
UBS declined to comment. Credit Suisse was also initially unable to comment. To end a bank run, the Swiss government orchestrated an emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS in mid-March. The largest takeover in the banking industry since the financial crisis was completed in mid-June.
UBS CEO: Integration is going very well
UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said in the morning that the integration of Credit Suisse into UBS was going “very well”. “I’m glad that we were able to stabilize the situation at Credit Suisse,” said the CEO at the Point Zero Forum in Zurich. The customers stand behind the transaction. “I am confident that by the end of the summer we will be able to provide more clarity on other aspects of the integration.”
Ermotti has already set the course. This is how the composition of the executive board and the management level below it was determined. “Within the next 20 days we will announce the third stage,” said the UBS CEO. Around 1,200 to 1,500 employees would be assigned their responsibilities in the combined bank. In the following months, the institute will also provide clarity for other employees. Ermotti had already announced job cuts in the past in order to avoid duplicate structures and leverage synergies after the merger of the two banks.