UBS has started a fresh round of layoffs in Switzerland, with both higher management and lower ranks receiving notices, according to internal sources. 

The layoffs are part of the group’s cost-cutting strategy and ongoing effort to reduce its workforce after integrating Credit Suisse, which it acquired in an emergency rescue in 2023. According to the anonymous sources, the hundreds of employees who have received notices in recent weeks have the option to join an internal redeployment programme that allows them up to a year to find a new role within the bank. In addition to this, the bank is also offering support for finding new jobs outside the bank, and a comprehensive social plan that combines the strongest components of the previous UBS and Credit Suisse plans.

UBS had previously announced that there would be approximately 3,000 job cuts in Switzerland as part of this integration process. Interestingly, the layoffs coincide with the bank’s efforts to remove Credit Suisse’s market presence in Switzerland. The bank recently replaced CS’s logo at the Zurich headquarters and shut down its IT systems while transferring client data.

A UBS spokesperson shared that the bank will try to keep the number of job cuts in Switzerland and globally as low as possible due to the integration. The total workforce of both banks in Switzerland at the end of 2023 was 35,000.

The bank’s CEO Sergio Ermotti in a conversation with Bloomberg last week had hinted at the layoffs saying, “It’s “inevitable” that this will involve redundancies, though UBS would try to rely on voluntary leavers as much as possible.” The bank is further aiming to cut an additional $5.5 billion in costs, adding to the $7.5 billion in savings already achieved since the deal.

In its Q3 statement, UBS, although not directly mentioning layoffs, underlined its financial and operational integration priorities stating, “We continue to execute on our integration plans, de-risking our balance sheet, and delivering on our cost reduction ambitions.” 

Additionally, the bank emphasised its commitment to invest in its employees' capability building stating, “In addition to meeting the current needs of our clients, executing the integration, and delivering on short term plans, we remain focused on positioning UBS for long-term growth. We continue to self-fund our investments in our people, products and capabilities to further develop our client offerings across all of our businesses, including our growth regions, Americas and APAC. This includes building on our long-standing AI expertise and industry-leading cloud position to accelerate development and adoption of GenAI solutions that benefit clients and employees. With the rollout of 50,000 Copilot licenses between now and the end of March 2025, UBS is currently implementing the largest Microsoft 365 Copilot deployment within the global financial services industry to date. Another example is Red, a proprietary new AI assistant that will provide 20,000 employees in Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Singapore with easy access to UBS product information and investment research." The bank added testing a new AI algorithm to identify potential merger and acquisition targets, for which all employees across the group are undergoing a training for ‘Responsible use of Generative AI’. 

UBS's workforce grew to about 120,000 after the acquisition, up from under 75,000. However, since then, the headcount has dropped by nearly 10,000. The bank will provide an updated workforce figure on February 4 when it reports its Q4 2024 results.