It was reported by the Financial Times (FT) that more than 60,000 jobs were cut in the banking sector making the year 2023 one of the heaviest layoffs among global banks since the financial crisis.
The job cuts come as no surprise as global investment banks experienced their second consecutive year of declining fees after initial public offerings (IPOs) and deal-making activities slowed throughout the year, FT reported.
FT calculations showed that 20 of the world’s biggest banks slashed at least 61,905 jobs, the highest in a year since the same lenders cut more than 140,000 jobs in the 2007-2008 global financial crisis.
Notably, UBS’ takeover of Credit Suisse in June this year saw at least 13,000 fewer jobs in the combined entity, leaving a total headcount of 116,000, the report said.
Credit Suisse had planned to cut nearly 9,000 roles. At the same time, UBS is anticipated to slash jobs further as it intends to remove duplicate roles across the merged organisation in the months ahead, the report added.
Meanwhile, FT reported that the second biggest reduction in employment was seen in Wells Fargo, which lowered its global headcount by 12,000 to 230,000.
The US multinational financial services company said it had spent US$186 million on severance costs in the third quarter alone and has earmarked as much as US$1 billion for further severance costs, suggesting more jobs are at risk.
In total, big Wall Street players cut at least 30,000 staff in 2023, with Citigroup shedding 5,000 jobs, Morgan Stanley 4,800, Bank of America 4,000, Goldman Sachs 3,200 and JPMorgan Chase 1,000, FT reported.
For the record, HSBC is one of the large global banks that did not cut jobs for the year as it has undertaken huge workforce reductions in recent years.
On the other hand, FT reported Italy’s second-biggest lender, UniCredit, also did not declare any big job cuts in 2023.
The news report highlighted the outlook for global banking jobs as being unlikely to improve in the coming year, with 2024 seen as a continuation of 2023 where banks get more conservative. – The Edge Malaysia
