Financial Tumult: Wall Street Giants Slash 60K Jobs Amid Revenue Decline and Industry Pressures

In 2023, major global banks such as UBS Group AG UBS and Wells Fargo & Co WFC executed extensive job cuts, eliminating over 60,000 positions collectively. 

This marked one of the most substantial workforce reductions since the financial crisis.

Investment banks witnessed plummeting fees for the second consecutive year, prompting Wall Street to defend profit margins by reducing headcount.

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UBS's takeover of Credit Suisse led to at least 13,000 fewer roles at the combined bank, with analysts expecting further significant redundancy rounds, the Financial Times reports. 

Wells Fargo trailed as the second-largest job cutter, reducing its global headcount by 12,000.

Additionally, Citigroup Inc C, Morgan Stanley MS, Bank of America Corp BAC, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc GS, and JP Morgan Chase & Co JPM collectively cut at least 30,000 staff in 2023. 

This move reflected revenue inadequacies and political cost-cutting pressures.

The year 2023 marked the resumption of Wall Street's "reduction in force" programs after a pandemic-induced hiatus. 

Despite affecting less than 5% of their workforce, these staff reductions contrasted sharply with U.K.'s Metro Bank, planning to cut a fifth of its employees, FT writes.

Conversely, some banks like HSBC and Commerzbank refrained from staff reductions in 2023. UniCredit also did not announce significant redundancy rounds despite experiencing a 10% drop in full-time employees over two years.

The outlook for global banking jobs in 2024 remains pessimistic, anticipating a continuation of conservative approaches due to declining investment banking activities. 

Banks have streamlined operations, anticipating a return to dealmaking in the following year, yet forecasts suggest they will adopt more cautious hiring strategies.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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