Switzerland: Banks cut 4,1% jobs in first half 2016

Swiss banks have hired more staff during the first half of the year, thus reversing the trend. These additional places, however, were created abroad, while in Switzerland the number of employees has decreased.

Domestically, the Swiss banks have in fact reduced the staff by a significant 4.1%, writes the Swiss Bankers Association as a barometer of the banks published today. The 162 banks considered cut 3,454 employees in Switzerland. A major part of this decrease contributed to the foreign banks, with a reduction of 2,036 jobs, or 11.2% of its workforce. On the contrary, the Swiss banks have created over 6,700 jobs abroad.

“The continued low interest rate environment and strong competition are leading to significant pressure on margins, ” the SBA said in the report. “This pressure is further compounded by increasing costs.”

The data reveal a reversal of the downward trend in jobs since 2011. After having established a stable job dismantling period, banks have taken to raise the number of their organic. For the second half of the year, however, two-thirds of those surveyed banks do not foresee any further evolution.

Turning to the financial analysis, in 2015, Swiss banks have improved their operating result of 5% from a year earlier, to 64.6 billion francs.
The banking sector has also contributed in the past year to an extent crucial to the welfare of Switzerland, generating about 6% of the value creation of the entire economy. Overall the banks have a net annual aggregate of 15.8 billion Swiss francs (2014: 7.4 billion), they have given jobs to over 103,000 people (full-time equivalents) and paid taxes on income and earnings totaling 2.2 billion (-12.3%), specifies the SBA.

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