London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, May 09, 2025

Swiss Brace For Major Job Losses After Credit Suisse Buyout

Swiss Brace For Major Job Losses After Credit Suisse Buyout

Swiss unions were meanwhile demanding Tuesday that the banks and governments launch a broad "rescue plan" for affected employees.
Tens of thousands of jobs could disappear in Switzerland following UBS's emergency takeover of its troubled rival Credit Suisse, observers warned Tuesday, as unions demanded a rescue package for banking staff.

The news that Switzerland's biggest bank will, under pressure from Swiss authorities, swallow up the second-largest has sent shockwaves through the wealthy Alpine nation, renowned for its banks and financial sector.

"Directly or indirectly, tens of thousands of jobs are potentially threatened," the Swiss Trade Union Federation (SGB) warned in a statement Tuesday.

"Many jobs are at risk," the Swiss Bank Employees Association (SBPV) said, warning that the uncertainty facing Credit Suisse employees was "extremely stressful."

The $3.25-billion takeover announced late Sunday was mediated by the Swiss authorities to help prevent economic turmoil spreading throughout the country and beyond after crisis-hit Credit Suisse saw its share price implode last week amid market panic following the collapse of two US banks.

The two Swiss banking giants currently count around 120,000 staff between them globally, with some 37,000 of those in Switzerland.

But once the mega-merger is completed, there is little doubt many of those jobs will become redundant.

12,000 jobs could disappear

With towns throughout Switzerland boasting both UBS and Credit Suisse branches, often side by side, and a range of parallel service offerings, the overlap in significant.

The BAK Economics think-tank warned Monday that as many as 12,000 of the Swiss-based staff across the two banks could see their jobs disappear.

In addition, "clearly, there will be consequences for many external contractors and service firms," SGB spokesman Benoit Gaillard told AFP.

Experts said that the jobs most at risk are among Credit Suisse's staff -- particularly the nearly 17,000 positions in Switzerland, as well an equivalent number of employees in its embattled investment bank unit.

But UBS positions are also in line to vanish.

When faced with two overlapping areas of responsibility, a UBS staffer will not necessarily be chosen to run the merged unit, according to Stephane Garelli, an economics professor at the International Institute for Management Development.

"Jobs will be lost on both sides," he told the broadcaster RTS.

"We risk finding ourselves in a market with many people with financial expertise, but no work."

The Ethos foundation, which represents pension funds in Switzerland and owns stakes in both banks, said it was pressing Swiss authorities and UBS to spin off Credit Suisse's domestic business, which is considered healthy.

"This would make it possible to preserve jobs and maintain healthy competition, which guarantees the proper functioning of our economy," it said.

'Rescue plan'

Swiss unions were meanwhile demanding Tuesday that the banks and governments launch a broad "rescue plan" for affected employees.

"Bank rescue must also mean job rescue," the SBPV said.

The bank staff association said it had initiated a taskforce including people from UBS and Credit Suisse, and supported by the government, towards setting up a staff rescue package.

Among other measures, it is calling for "a freeze on layoffs until the end of 2023, and for the implementation of unavoidable layoffs as part of the social plan."

While there is currently a shortage of skilled workers in Switzerland's financial sector, it warned "the takeover threatens to cut jobs on a scale that the labour market in the banking industry could not absorb."

To facilitate the mega-merger, the Swiss government granted UBS a guarantee of nine billion Swiss francs ($9.7 billion) to assume potential losses arising from risky Credit Suisse assets, and the central bank said it would provide liquidity of up to 100 billion Swiss francs.

The SGB union stressed that the government guarantee alone amounted to dishing out around 1,000 Swiss francs for every inhabitant in Switzerland, insisting the two banks "have a responsibility to avoid brutal job cuts."

"Credit Suisse staff must not pay for the errors committed by their managers and the authorities."
Comments

Oh ya 2 year ago
And it starts. One of the largest banks in Europe implodes and then they forced another weak bank UBS (which took bail-out funds in thev08 collapse) to buy them up, kicking the can down the road for another 2 weeks. All banks around the world are interconnected so you best have your shit together on your financial plan

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Historic Papal Conclave Set to Commence in Rome
Huge Copper, Gold, and Silver Discovery in Argentina and Chile — But the Profits Go Abroad
Prince Harry is pleading for reconciliation — but the royals are just as sick of his victimhood as everyone else
The Road to Freedom: She Protested Putin, Escaped House Arrest, and Survived a 2,800-Kilometer Journey
OpenAI's Flip-Flop: No Longer Going Commercial, Back to Nonprofit, After Musk Lawsuit and Backlash
“Trump Supporter” Aims to Bring a MAGA-Style Shift to Romania
First From China: Zhao Xintong Wins the Snooker World Championship
Nvidia Faces Billion-Dollar Losses – Warns: China Is on Its Way to Becoming an AI Superpower
Trump Rules Out Third Term, Names JD Vance and Marco Rubio as Potential Successors
Mexico Says ‘No’ to U.S. Troops: President Sheinbaum Rejects Trump’s Offer to Fight Cartels
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Storms the Map, Wrecking the Two-Party Monopoly
DOGE: Reimagining Government Operations with AI
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Beijing Says U.S. Is ‘Reaching Out’ for Tariff Talks Amid Soaring Trade Tensions
U.K. Court Rejects Prince Harry’s Final Appeal Over Police Security
Prince Harry’s Heartfelt Outburst Rocks the Royal Family
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Transgender Swimmer Secures Five Gold Medals at U.S. Masters Championship
Prince Harry: “I Want Reconciliation with My Family”
Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has now been officially labeled “right-wing extremist” by the federal office for the so-called “protection of the constitution.”
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
Transformative Changes in Women's Wrestling: The Rise of WWE Superstars
The Rush to the White Gold: Global Investment Surge in Natural Hydrogen Exploration
This is a day in Spain without electricity and internet
Reform UK Surprises in British Elections, Challenging Traditional Two-Party System
180-Year-Old Christian University in South Carolina Announces Closure Due to Unmet $6 Million Fundraising Goal
Brazilian Woman Jailed for Fourteen Years for Writing “You Lost, Idiot” on Statue During Protest
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Dutch Politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek Receives Spyware Threat Alert from Apple
Paramount Board Considers Settlement in Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit Over "60 Minutes" Interview
U.S. Economy Shrink in Trump’s First Quarter as Tariff Policy Raises Questions
Deadline Looms for RTS Meter Replacement: Hundreds of Thousands at Risk of Heating Disruption
Sweden Grapples with Deadly Gun Violence: Suspect Arrested After Three Young Men Killed in Uppsala Hair Salon
Walz Reveals Why Harris Chose Him as Her Running Mate and Reflects on Democratic Losses
Spain Restores Power After Unprecedented Nationwide Blackout
Carney Secures Liberal Mandate in Canada’s Federal Election
Death Penalty Sought as Luigi Manion Pleads Not Guilty in CEO Murder Case
President Trump contacts Jeff Bezos after reports of Amazon considering listing tariff surcharges; company clarifies no such plan for main platform
Spain and Portugal Recover from Massive Blackout
Liverpool Clinches Record-Equalling 20th English League Title Under Arne Slot
Singapore Politicians Warn Against Foreign Interference in Election
Driver Ploughs into Vancouver Festival Crowd, Killing Nine
Depression, Fear of Defamation, and a Tragic End: New Details on Virginia Giuffre’s Suicide
“Sharia for UK, Allah Akbar!”
Massive Explosion at Iran's Bandar Abbas Port Linked to Suspicious Chemical Shipments
Incident Reflection: A Harsh Reality Check
Pakistani migrants to Danish man: “ “We have 5 children while you have 1 or 2. In 10 years, there will be more Pakistanis than Danes here.“
Clashes Erupt in London as Tensions Rise Between Indian and Pakistani Communities
Specialized anti-drone weapons deployed among security personnel Ahead of Papal Funeral
How do you fix this culture?
×