European Bank Job ‘Bloodbath’ Surpasses 40,000

European Bank Job ‘Bloodbath’ Surpasses 40,000

UBS AG (UBSN)’s decision to cut 5 percent of its workforce brings to more than 40,000 the number of jobs cut by European banks in the past month as the region’s worsening sovereign debt crisis crimps trading revenue.

UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, said yesterday it will eliminate 3,500 jobs, mainly from its investment bank. It follows HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), which announced 30,000 cuts on Aug. 1, Barclays Plc (BARC), which is cutting headcount by 3,000, and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS), which is eliminating 2,000 posts. Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) announced 2,000 reductions on July 28.

European banks are slashing jobs this year six times faster than their U.S. peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as concerns about the creditworthiness of Italy, Spain and France roil financial markets and reduce income from fixed- income trading, stock and bond underwriting as well as mergers and acquisitions. Financial firms are also cutting costs as regulators force banks to hold more and better quality capital to withstand future shocks.

“It’s a bloodbath, and I expect things to get worse before they get better,” said Jonathan Evans, chairman of executive- search firm Sammons Associates in London. “I cannot see a lot of those who have lost their jobs getting re-employed. Regardless of how good someone is, no one wants to talk about hiring. Life will be very difficult for two or three years.”

The 46-member Bloomberg Europe Banks and Financial Services Index has fallen 31 percent this year. RBS tumbled 49 percent, Barclays 44 percent and France’s Societe Generale (GLE) SA 48 percent.

Europe is having a banking sector meltdown at this rate. With so many job cuts announced just within the last month alone signals major troubles in the industry in Europe. What can we expect from this? It's likely going to worsen rapidly. I could see some banks being absorbed and taken over by bigger banks or nationalised which would help stall a further banking crisis seemingly becoming endemic in the region. And what contagious impacts might this have, in terms of exposure in other countries or triggering job losses in other industries.

They are cutting jobs in the US too - I forget the number, I THINK 23k from Goldman Sachs, and then they announced that they were BRINGING that many jobs to Asia.

It's funny to me a bit - how so many people do not trust B. Obama b/c they think he might be Kenyan or have some loyalty to Kenya or some other country.

But then we have these huge multinational corporations that control our money and property, and they've got their loyalties obviously concentrated on themselves alone.

reply to post by hadriana


That's good. My loyaties are concentrated on me, too.