labels: Bank general, Citigroup, Economy - general, Merrill Lynch
Credit Suisse joins Merrill Lynch and Citigroup in cutting jobs news
23 April 2008

After Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, Credit Suisse becomes the third major bank to announce job cuts this quarter. The bank, Switzerland's second-biggest after UBS, has announced  it is cutting 500 jobs in its investment banking and administrative support divisions as demand for the firm's services declines.

As with Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, the investment banking division is the one to be mainly targeted, not surprising considering that the present economic climate precludes investments and mergers and acquisitions.

(Also see: After Merrill Lynch losses and job cuts, Citi loses $5.11 billion in Q1; to cut 9,000 jobs and Merrill Lynch posts deep quarterly loss; to cut 10 per cent of workforce) "Due to market conditions and projected staffing levels required to meet client needs, we are reducing global headcount by approximately 500 across our investment banking division and shared services division," it said in a statement.

Credit Suisse's investment banking division includes sales and trading as well as bankers who advise companies on takeovers or capital raising. The administrative unit is known internally as ``shared services.''

Before this announcement, the Zurich-based bank had been steadily cutting jobs in its investment banking division. After 150 and 170 layoffs in September and October last year, the bank had reduced its workforce by as much as 500 this January, all in the investment banking division.

Therefore, with this cut the total job losses since the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market last year add up to 1320.

The bank is expected to report a net loss of 594 million Swiss francs ($589 million), this quarter. In contrast, Credit Suisse had a 2.73-billion franc profit in the year-earlier period.


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Credit Suisse joins Merrill Lynch and Citigroup in cutting jobs