According to a weekend story in the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, UBS may lay off up to a third of its employees while weighing its options for completing the acquisition of Credit Suisse.
By the end of 2022, the bank employed roughly 125,000 individuals, with approximately 30% of those based in Switzerland.
Nonetheless, the report claims that 30,000 jobs may be at risk because the two banks’ workforces overlap significantly.
The Swiss newspaper stated, citing unnamed senior managers, that up to 11,000 people in Switzerland could be dismissed.
UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher has previously indicated his plan to “downsize” Credit Suisse’s investment banking division, which has been at the centre of much of the scandal.
Credit Suisse was already experiencing a massive round of redundancies, with the goal of reducing its workforce by up to 9,000 people.
Separately, it was claimed that UBS is planning to hire management consultants to help with the Credit Suisse merger.
As reported by the Financial Times, UBS has shortlisted the following firms for the lucrative work: Bain, BCG, McKinsey, and Oliver Wyman. McKinsey held positions with UBS when Hamers was the chief executive.
The job cutbacks and consultancy shortlist come after UBS’s short-lived CEO, Ralph Hamers, was replaced by his predecessor, Sergio Ermotti.
Ermotti led UBS for nine years, helping it recover from the financial crisis and reduce its reliance on investment banking.
He will take the position on April 5, 2023 and will also serve as president of the executive board of the Swiss banking company.
