Despite better-than-expected
unemployment figures, and a sense that perhaps the worst of the credit crisis is over, Wall Street continues to slash staff to adjust to few deals, particularly in structured finance and private equity. The latest expected to announce cuts is UBS, which may issue 8,000 pink slips, according to
Bloomberg.
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While certainly not all of those affected would be employees working on the Street, and some may not even work in the U.S., Bloomberg notes that anywhere from 2,500 to 3,000 layoffs would likely come from the investment banking side of the business -- that's over 10% of the unit's personnel. The layoffs could come Tuesday, when UBS announces results. Last year, UBS cut 1,500 employees. UBS took a $38 billion write-down on subprime mortgage trading, the biggest write-down of the European banks, leading observers to call for its breakup.
Meanwhile, layoffs could get worse for Wall Street as a Wall Street Journal report indicates that NYSE Euronext may lay off 75% of American Stock Exchange employees when it completes the $260 million acquisition of the smaller exchange; the Amex employs about 380 people.
The news of more layoffs follows announcements of pink slips at firms as disparate as Bear Stearns Cos., Citigroup Inc. and Thomas Weisel Partners. - Matthew Wurtzel
See UBS layoff story from Bloomberg
See Amex layoff story from MarketWatch
See unemployment story from BusinessWeek
See related UBS story from Dealscape
See related Amex story from Dealscape
See related Bear Stearns story from Dealscape
