Hours ago, it was revealed that Deutsche Bank is set to fire some 23,000 people or around a quarter of its workforce. The move comes as new CEO John Cryan works to cut costs and boost profitability after the bank’s co-CEOs Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen were shown the door as investors became impatient with efforts to boost profitability and as a string of settlements and seemingly endless accusations of malfeasance underscored deep seated problems with the bank’s corporate culture.
Of course as we noted this morning, the layoffs at Deutsche don’t say much for Europe’s economic “recovery” either and may also suggest that far from creating jobs, the persistence of ZIRP has crimped margins forcing banks to make up the difference by getting leaner.
In any event, Deutsche Bank isn’t the only European lender that’s axing people. As tipped by CEO Federico Ghizzoni earlier this month, UniCredit is now set to layoff 10,000 employees across its Italian, Austrian, and German operations. Here’s Reuters:
UniCredit (CRDI.MI), Italy's biggest bank by assets, is planning to cut around 10,000 jobs, or 7 percent of its workforce, as it seeks to slash costs and boost profits, a source at the bank told Reuters on Monday.
The planned cuts will be concentrated in Italy, Germany and Austria, several sources said, adding that they include 2,700 layoffs in Italy that have already been announced.
A UniCredit spokesman declined comment beyond noting that the bank's CEO Federico Ghizzoni had on Sept. 3 said there were no concrete numbers on potential lay-offs, after a report said it was considering eliminating 10,000 positions in coming years.
Ghizzoni is reworking a five-year strategic plan, unveiled only last year, that will aim to boost revenue and cut costs. The revised plan is expected to be announced in November.
UniCredit, which has 146,600 employees across 17 countries, is under pressure to boost its profits as low interest rates are expected to keep hurting its earnings in coming years.
And there, ladies and gentlemen, is your European recovery - 33,000 pink slips in a single day.
