FirstFT: Banks reverse post-pandemic hiring spree with 60,000 job cuts in 2023

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Twenty of the world’s biggest banks cut at least 61,905 jobs in 2023, according to Financial Times calculations. That compares with more than 140,000 jobs slashed by the same lenders during the global financial crisis of 2007-08.

Investment banks suffered a second consecutive year of plummeting fees as dealmaking and public listings dried up, leaving Wall Street trying to protect profit margins by reducing headcount.

Elsewhere, the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS has already resulted in at least 13,000 fewer roles at the combined bank, with further big redundancy rounds expected in the year ahead.

“There is no stability, no investment, no growth in most banks — and there are likely to be more job cuts,” said Lee Thacker, owner of financial services headhunting firm Silvermine Partners, adding: “There are some very nice gifts being sent to bosses at the moment.” 

Read the full FT analysis, based on company disclosures and our own reporting.

Four more top stories

1. The eurozone economy is set for only modest growth next year despite wages rising faster than inflation for the first time in three years, according to an FT poll of economists. Almost two-thirds of the 48 economists surveyed by the FT said they believed the single currency bloc was already in a recession. Here are more findings from our survey.

2. European plans of creating a battery supply chain for electric cars independent of China face big delays as companies focus on the American market because of clean energy subsidies, a top manufacturer has warned. The head of Canadian battery materials producer Novonix told the FT that the US Inflation Reduction Act was luring producers away from Europe. More from our interview with Chris Burns.

3. Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli soldiers that the war against Hamas will not stop as he visited northern Gaza yesterday. “Whoever talks about stopping, there is no such thing,” the prime minister said, in an exchange published by the government together with photos of him in military gear, meeting the troops and being briefed by Israel Defense Forces commanders. “The war will continue until the end.”

4. The number of UK first-time housebuyers is set to hit a 10-year low as higher mortgage rates are forcing purchasers to become more reliant on their families for financial help. While demand from people seeking to join the housing ladder remains high, fewer people can now afford to do so.

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