Credit Suisse is said to be finalizing a plan to reduce 2,000 jobs at its London base and move at least some of them to places like India and Poland. According to news reports, the bank’s plan would mean that about a third of the bank’s British workforce could go as part of the bank’s effort to cut costs. According to Tidjane Thiam, chief executive of the bank, the bank has 6600 jobs in London, 2,400 front office, 4,200 back office. And out of the 4,200 about 2,400 are directly connected to the front office, so they need to be co-located with the front office. The other 1800 frankly do not need to be in London and that is the potential the bank is looking at. The cuts are part of a plan to reduce the bank’s cost-base worldwide. There will be 1,600 job cuts in Switzerland and 2,000 in the US, where Credit Suisse’s private bank will be transferred to Wells Fargo. The bank is looking at India as one of the regions to base some of the jobs cut in London. The bank also aims to consolidate its London estate, which includes five sites in the city, by subletting some locations as well as moving staff offshore.
