As a result of the broader environment, the banking industry cut more than 60,000 jobs worldwide in 2023, the worst year for layoffs since the financial crisis.。

Statistics show that in 2023, the world's top 20 banks cut at least 61,905 jobs, second only to the 2007-2008 global financial crisis.。The global banking industry cut more than 140,000 jobs.。

Since the value of 61,905 is calculated only from disclosures by the top 20 banks and does not include data on small layoffs by these companies and layoffs by small and medium-sized banks, the total number of unemployed people in the global banking sector this year will only be higher than the value of 61,905.。

Previous years, such as 2015 and 2019, have also seen larger layoffs in the global banking industry。But at that time the center of the layoff wave was in Europe, where banks were making massive layoffs in response to historically low interest rates。And at least half of the banking layoffs in 2023 will come from Wall Street banks, whose investment banking business has been struggling to cope with the rapid rise in benchmark interest rates in the U.S. and Europe。

Globally, the biggest layoff this year is from Switzerland's UBS。In November, UBS revealed that the combined group had cut 13,000 jobs to a total workforce of 116,000.。The company expects massive layoffs in the coming year。

It is understood that after the merger, UBS cut duplicate positions at the two banks and axed most of Credit Suisse's previously accident-prone investment banking operations, and employees in related operations lost their jobs.。

The second largest number of layoffs in the banking industry in 2023 is Wells Fargo.。Earlier this month, Wells Fargo revealed that its global workforce had fallen by 12,000 to 230,000.。The bank said it spent 1 in the third quarter alone..$8.6 billion in severance, 7,000 jobs cut。

Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf further said the bank has set aside as much as $1 billion for further severance payments, suggesting tens of thousands of jobs remain at risk.。

In other big banks, Citigroup cut about 5,000 jobs this year, Morgan Stanley cut about 4,800, Bank of America cut nearly 4,000, Goldman Sachs cut about 3,200, and JPMorgan cut about 1,000.。According to statistics, in 2023, large Wall Street banks will cut at least 30,000 jobs in total.。

The root cause of this wave of layoffs is a contraction from open market trading and IPOs.。

Investment banking, the most "profitable" business segment of the banking system, has seen a sharp decline in fee income for the second year in a row.。This has led Wall Street to try to "protect" its profit margins by reducing its workforce.。And the banking turmoil at the beginning of this year has further exacerbated this layoff crisis.。

Lee Thacker, owner of financial services executive search firm Silvermine Partners, said: "Most banks lack stability, lack investment and growth, and (therefore) there may be more layoffs.。"

"(The bank) has no income, so this is partly a response to overexpansion.。But there is also a simpler explanation: administrative cost cuts。"If you run a department and your boss asks for savings, you either lay off employees or get fired."。"

In early 2022, Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing had said he was "very concerned" that competition to hire people was driving up pay costs across Wall Street.。And now it seems that his words have become a word.。Overall Wall Street pay has risen nearly 15% in the past 12 months。

But less than two years later, light trading has again forced banks to streamline their investment banking divisions。

Data from Coalition Greenwich, a financial services benchmarking group, shows that the largest investment banks cut their staff by 4% in the first half of the year alone and are poised for further layoffs in the second half of the year.。

But the drop wasn't as big as the drop in revenue, said Gaurav Arora, global head of competition analysis at Coalition Greenwich, due to banks' optimism about resuming trading in the new year.。Arora said some banks are hesitating at the moment because there are a large number of investors on the sidelines, especially in the Americas.。

It is worth noting that there are a few large banks that did not lay off employees in 2023, such as HSBC, Commerzbank and UniCredit, Italy's second-largest bank.。However, the above-mentioned banks have successively laid off employees in previous years.。

Overall, global banking employment prospects are unlikely to improve next year unless investment banking activity picks up。"We expect full year 2024 to be a continuation of the 2023 story."。Arora said, "We're seeing banks becoming more conservative.。"