A total of 59,000 jobs in top European and US banks were axed in 2014, bringing the total job cuts to 160,000 across 24 banks in the past two years, authorities said.
Eighteen of Europe’s biggest banks trimmed jobs by about 21,500 while US banks cut a total of 37,500 jobs in 2014. The cuts, however, were fewer than the 56,100 jobs cut by European banks and 45,700 jobs axed by US banks in 2013.
Analysts said western banks had to cut thousands of jobs as banks aim to improve profitability by restructuring and cutting costs.
The job cuts were also implemented by the said banks in order to meet strict requirements, especially that regulators in Europe and the United States have become concerned that the said banks have become too big and too complex.
Profitability also triggered job cuts in Europe and experts said European banks will continue wielding the knife this year.
A recent study conducted by the International Monetary Fund showed only 30% of 300 large banks in Europe had a structure that was able to make reasonable rate of return over time.
Among those that cut the most jobs was Barclays, which axed 7,300 jobs last year.
During the 2007-2009 financial crisis, tens of thousands of bank staff were axed as banks struggled to survive. But a fresh wave of cuts swept through the industry in 2013 due to lackluster income and sluggish economic growth. – BusinessNewsAsia.com