By Noele Illien and John Revill
ZURICH (Reuters) -UBS Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti said on Monday that around 10% of Credit Suisse employees had left before the bank sealed its takeover of its former rival.
Reuters and other media reported last month that hundreds of Credit Suisse employees were resigning each week, amid heightened uncertainty about their future and increased recruitment efforts from competitors.
“It’s true that around 10% of the workforce have already left in the last few months before the takeover,” Ermotti told Swiss broadcaster SRF.
The two banks jointly employ around 120,000 people worldwide. UBS has, however, already said it will be cutting jobs to reduce costs and take advantage of synergies.
UBS said earlier on Monday that it had completed the takeover of its Zurich rival, a deal agreed as part of a government-orchestrated rescue on March 19.
A figure of 10% would translate into nearly 5,000 departures, or more than 400 per week since Credit Suisse’s rescue, although Ermotti did not say if he was referring specifically to the time between March 19 and the closing.
While reporting its quarterly earnings in April, Credit Suisse already noted higher employee attrition over the past year. It said it had just over 48,000 full-time employees at the end of the first quarter, down from 50,480 at the end of 2022.
Ermotti later told CNBC that UBS was “always sorry to see talented people leaving,” but added the majority did understand that UBS will be “a better place” to work and serve its clients and that it has already been able to attract outside talent.
UBS also announced management changes after the takeover and a spokesperson said that out of 160 senior managers confirmed or appointed, more than a fifth hailed from Credit Suisse.
(Reporting by Noele Illien and John Revill; Writing by Tomasz Janowski; Editing by Alexander Smith)
