CS cuts 3,200 jobs in Zurich

Credit Suisse Bank, under the leadership of its new CEO Ulrich Korner, took the lead. According to the source, 3,200 jobs will disappear in Zurich and the surrounding area. This represents about 20 percent of the Swiss workforce at the big bank.

The team was notified in advance today. the look And other media just reported about it. The dismantling process is scheduled to be completed by March 2023.

Koerner was the first to use the knife in Switzerland and there it is in the main location in Zurich. It has significantly reduced the number of jobs in the back office in Üetlihof and in other branches in Limmatstadt.

The domestic downsizing comes ahead of the expected cuts in the investment bank. Board members are arguing there According to Bloomberg About the extent of the planned dismantling.

However, CS has recently incurred billions of dollars in losses trading with Archegos and in asset management – there with the Greensill case.

On the other hand, the Swiss International Bank, as the Swiss business of CS is called, is doing well. The division has been consistently profitable.

However, employees in their ancient homeland must surrender before anyone else. This has a lot to do with the back office and services for the entire group out there.

CS maintains an important IT position in Üetlihof. The city of Zurich wanted to buy the building. If it comes to the obvious situation there, the city could be happy to have the deal scrapped by the city council.

The spacious building at the foot of the local Zurich mountain should only be half full as of next spring.

The CS mass cuts in Zurich, as rumored by insiders this afternoon and not officially confirmed by the CS press office, fit Ulrich Körner’s career.

The former McKinsey consultant had “cleaned up” the back office at UBS. By eliminating jobs and reducing outside IT staff, the chief operating officer at the time cut costs by billions.

Koerner is now trying to do the same with the hammer blow in Zurich.

Most of the more than 3000 affected are bankers and professionals who have worked in the bank for years, do not have exorbitant salaries in comparison and are given a manageable bonus.

The main risk takers, the millionaires, the masters of the universe – they are elsewhere.

Accordingly, the potential for saving is much lower than in the investment bank, where for years the majority of Anglo-Saxons have been making large profits.

The fact that Koerner is still pushing ahead in Switzerland and Zurich probably has something to do with the culture. Swiss employees swallow rather than rebel, their internal employee associations are cooperating.

There are hardly any sharp trade unions in the country.

In New York and London, where investment bankers work, CS leaders from the show floor regularly show a reluctance to bite.

Tedjan Thiam, Korner’s predecessor, tried to pull teeth from Wall Street “sharks” nearly 7 years ago. They shocked the CS chief, who turned away and did not dare to make any further cuts outside.

Under Thomas Gottstein, who inherited Thiam at the start of 2020, there has been no restructuring at all – also because of Covid.

Now he hits Korner – and imitates Thiam. Sharpen knives to break them where it seems easier: in Zurich.

“We’ve already said that we will be communicating detailed information on the progress of our comprehensive strategy review with our third-quarter numbers,” CS On Demand said.

“Any coverage of possible outcomes before that is speculative in nature.”