After the
decision to take over the troubled Swiss lender Credit Suisse, UBS Group AG revealed
plans to lay off as much as 30% of its current workforce, translating to
approximately 36,000 positions. SonntagsZeitung first reported the
information, which means that UBS is joining the tide of massive layoffs in finance
and big tech industries.
According
to data reported by Bloomberg, nearly 538,000 people have lost their
jobs in numerous economically important sectors since October 2022. In just one
week in January, 52,000 jobs were cut, the worst start to a year in 14 years
when the world struggled with the adverse effects of the financial crisis.
172,000
jobs were cut in the technology sector and 110,000 in the consumer discretionary sector,
while the financial industry was in third place, with nearly 81,000
professionals departing. Interestingly, 240,000 positions were affected in only
20 companies, where UBS announced the most significant cuts.
Over the
past few months, employment has been slashed by such tech giants as Meta,
Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet. Meanwhile, in the financial sector, reductions
were announced by troubled Credit Suisse and several other major banks.
JPMorgan
announced in February that it was going to cut jobs in its investment banking
division, and Goldman Sachs revealed in January that it was preparing to cut
3,200 positions. In contrast, it had previously suggested that up to 4,000
people might lose their jobs.
Additionally, Job cuts
were reported by Robinhood, a retail trading platform that competes with
traditional banks. Due to the “deterioration of the macro environment,”
it decided to lay off 23% of its workforce, or about 780 people, as recently as
last year.
The latest
round of layoffs comes in the aftermath of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank
(SVB), which shook global banking by making it difficult to operate in an
already challenging environment of high-interest rates and rising inflation.
SVB played
a significant role in exacerbating Credit Suisse’s crisis, causing its market
valuation to plunge to historic lows and prompting the decision to enter into a
deal with UBS. The bank agreed to acquire its struggling competitor for CHF 3
billion while also taking on up to $5.4 billion in losses. UBS earned $7.6 billion in 2022, but attempting to merge the two giant lenders may prove more difficult than initially anticipated.
Massive Job Cuts in the
Cryptocurrency Industry
The realms
of technology and finance frequently overlap, as clearly demonstrated in the
cryptocurrency market. On top of that, this sector has experienced significant job losses
in recent months. Apart from the aforementioned factors, the digital assets
market in 2022 has faced substantial discounts, further contributing to the job
cuts.
The crypto
platform, Luno announced in January that it was going to lay off 35% of its
existing employees. At the same time, the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, owned by
the Winklevoss millionaire brothers, announced a third round of job cuts,
following two earlier ones in June and July last year.
ConenSys decided to cut 11%, while Coinbase announced similar plans. Only Binance, one of the
largest exchanges by volume, decided to increase its workforce. According to
plans announced three months ago, it wants to increase the number of full-time
jobs by 30% this year.
After the
decision to take over the troubled Swiss lender Credit Suisse, UBS Group AG revealed
plans to lay off as much as 30% of its current workforce, translating to
approximately 36,000 positions. SonntagsZeitung first reported the
information, which means that UBS is joining the tide of massive layoffs in finance
and big tech industries.
According
to data reported by Bloomberg, nearly 538,000 people have lost their
jobs in numerous economically important sectors since October 2022. In just one
week in January, 52,000 jobs were cut, the worst start to a year in 14 years
when the world struggled with the adverse effects of the financial crisis.
172,000
jobs were cut in the technology sector and 110,000 in the consumer discretionary sector,
while the financial industry was in third place, with nearly 81,000
professionals departing. Interestingly, 240,000 positions were affected in only
20 companies, where UBS announced the most significant cuts.
Over the
past few months, employment has been slashed by such tech giants as Meta,
Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet. Meanwhile, in the financial sector, reductions
were announced by troubled Credit Suisse and several other major banks.
JPMorgan
announced in February that it was going to cut jobs in its investment banking
division, and Goldman Sachs revealed in January that it was preparing to cut
3,200 positions. In contrast, it had previously suggested that up to 4,000
people might lose their jobs.
Additionally, Job cuts
were reported by Robinhood, a retail trading platform that competes with
traditional banks. Due to the “deterioration of the macro environment,”
it decided to lay off 23% of its workforce, or about 780 people, as recently as
last year.
The latest
round of layoffs comes in the aftermath of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank
(SVB), which shook global banking by making it difficult to operate in an
already challenging environment of high-interest rates and rising inflation.
SVB played
a significant role in exacerbating Credit Suisse’s crisis, causing its market
valuation to plunge to historic lows and prompting the decision to enter into a
deal with UBS. The bank agreed to acquire its struggling competitor for CHF 3
billion while also taking on up to $5.4 billion in losses. UBS earned $7.6 billion in 2022, but attempting to merge the two giant lenders may prove more difficult than initially anticipated.
Massive Job Cuts in the
Cryptocurrency Industry
The realms
of technology and finance frequently overlap, as clearly demonstrated in the
cryptocurrency market. On top of that, this sector has experienced significant job losses
in recent months. Apart from the aforementioned factors, the digital assets
market in 2022 has faced substantial discounts, further contributing to the job
cuts.
The crypto
platform, Luno announced in January that it was going to lay off 35% of its
existing employees. At the same time, the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, owned by
the Winklevoss millionaire brothers, announced a third round of job cuts,
following two earlier ones in June and July last year.
ConenSys decided to cut 11%, while Coinbase announced similar plans. Only Binance, one of the
largest exchanges by volume, decided to increase its workforce. According to
plans announced three months ago, it wants to increase the number of full-time
jobs by 30% this year.