UBS and BNP Paribas are pausing job cut programs. The move is a response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Roughly 250 BNP Paribas staff in Switzerland whose jobs are on the line in a restructuring bid disclosed four months ago are getting a breather, finews.com has learned. The French bank will pause those cuts amid the global coronavirus pandemic, a spokesman for an employee lobby confirmed.
The move follows calls from a Swiss bank employee group to pause planned job cuts. A spokesman for the Paris-based lender in Switzerland, where it employs 1,400 staff in Zurich, Basel, and Lugano, didn't comment.
No New Coachees
UBS agreed to stop add any new employees to a Swiss restructuring program which can lead to job loss, a spokeswoman for the bank said. These programs are typically laid out over eight to 12 months, with pay. At UBS, it is designed to boost employees' chances on the job market – internally or externally.
J.P. Morgan is also cutting as many as 100 jobs in Switzerland, as finews.com reported two weeks ago. A source said the U.S. bank is reevaluating its plans given the fallout from the pandemic.
Grimly Favorable Timing
Julius Baer, which said last month it would cut as many as 300 jobs, had grimly prescient timing: the Swiss wealth manager had wrapped up employee consultation on the cuts and largely given notice to staff who would be leaving, a person familiar with the matter said.
The scene in Switzerland mirrors that internationally, where cost cuts by British-Chinese HSBC and Deutsche Bank may be softened or paused due to the crisis. Analysts estimated that roughly 70,000 jobs across Europe were at risk at the end of 2019.
