Credit Suisse has axed thousands of jobs as part of spending cuts. Now, the Swiss bank is moving to cut a layer of management in Switzerland – a move which is a blueprint for its plans elsewhere.
The Zurich-based bank will slash the number of supervisors for every rank-and-file employee dramatically, Swiss wealth management head Serge Fehr (pictured) told «Neue Zürcher Zeitung» (in German). Credit Suisse aims for a ratio of one executive for every seven employees, he added.
Previously, Credit Suisse employed an executive for every 4.2 employees, but wants to slim down, Fehr said. The move is an admission that Credit Suisse's top-heavy hierarchy needs adjusting in order face a glut of upstart digital rivals.
The bank is already well-advanced with the cuts: one management layer has already been eliminate – that of market segment – according to Fehr. This leaves the wealth management arm with one layer of regions and a team-based one.
The Swiss streamlining is meant as a blueprint for all of Credit Suisse: the bank plans to slash one executive layer in order to simplify its business. The bank didn't disclose how many executives would lose their jobs as a result.
