Swiss government says it ‘regrets’ job losses at Credit Suisse
The Federal Council, the Swiss executive body, released a statement on Thursday in reaction to the announcement by UBS that it would cut 3,000 jobs following its emergency takeover of rival bank Credit Suisse.
People and families were behind every dismissal, the statement said. The Federal Council said it regretted these dismissals and recalled its expectation formulated back in March that socially acceptable solutions should be sought for job cuts and that existing obligations should be respected. UBS’s plans were in line with the government’s original expectations.
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UBS to cut 3,000 staff in Switzerland as it integrates rival
The government is satisfied with the agreement reached between the social partners of the banking industry, UBS and Credit Suisse. It thanked the social partners “for their responsible fulfilment of their role” and for their continued support of the process.
The government also assumes that there will be no significant distortions in the labour market.
“Possible redundancies are to be staggered,” it wrote. The labour market impact should therefore remain low, also because the current labour market situation is generally very good.
The government also indicated that the social partners of the banking industry “should play their role in accompanying the process”, and it had assured its support.
Thousands of vacancies in banking sector
Economics Minister Guy Parmelin told the media in Bern that he personally, together with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), had been in contact with the social partners and the human resources departments of the two banks throughout the process. An agreement between the social partners should be signed soon.
With regard to the job losses, Parmelin explained that there were currently 6,000 vacancies in the banking sector. Despite the new, very large UBS, the competition in the banking sector in Switzerland was still playing out.
The government will analyse the question of the new big bank and its risks for the national economy as soon as all parameters are available. But first it will await reports from Seco and the Competition Commission. There are also parliamentary initiatives pending on the subject.
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