UBS to cut 8,000 jobs....

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/04/27/afx4938089.html

I'm doing my summer atUBS in IBD in a coverage group. I am basically approaching this summer as if there are no jobs to be given out at the end because that's basically how I think it is. We're screwed. Hopefully someone at another bank will feel sorry for us and give us a job. But I doubt it.

At the moment this looks like speculation. Keep in mind 2 things:

1. The report is from Sonntag - this was the paper that came out a few weeks ago saying UBS already had a plan to sell the investment bank in 2 years - however, at last week's AGM and before, senior management and new chairman expressed commitment to a (scaled-down) one bank model (i.e. keeping the IB), so I'm not sure how reliable this source is if it has been badly wrong before

2. Rohner said a few weeks ago that estimates of job cuts around 4,000-5,000 were 'probably too high' - don't know if that much has changed between now and then?

I think there will definitely be cuts to the investment bank, but 8,000 may be a little on the high side?

Anyway, just my $0.02 - I'm on the outside and would be curious to hear what some of the senior people on the forum think too.

On May 6th they announce quarterly earnings and with that they said they would announce the size and depth of the new job cuts. Until then its all speculation.

Dunno about summers, but I'm starting as an IBD full time in a couple of weeks and just came back from a welcome
event in London. Basically the story is that the cuts will be all in Fixed Income, not in Equities and not
in IBD. In fact, IBD and Equities will gain in stature because of this whole mess. Both IBD and Equities
have been turning in terrific performances, including this years first quarter.
That being said, the IBD and Equities people with significant stakes in the equity ownership compensation
scheme are of course also quite pissed because their options are all underwater and shares have tanked.

That's reassuring. Hopefully it stays that way :).

ibhopeful... you just made my summer. i'm not logging in here again!

Will business continuity be hit by this? Which areas are going to be hit the hardest and which are safest?

Last week there were meant to be loads of fires in the banking division but then they were postponed till may (don't know the reason). Everyone is nonetheless shitting themselves as they are going to fire very heavily.

heard the same as the above poster. some groups are being merged to facilitate the pending restructuring.

sadly, the poster who suggested that banking revenues are terrific is simply wrong.

what about UBS leveraged finance London? Hit hard by layoffs or not???

Is it likely that layoffs will go all the way down to analysts and starting 08 analysts (i.e. will offers be pulled?)

If you're asking someone to speculate, I'd put money on yes and probably not, respectively.

Genghis, what happens to the 08 analysts who were assigned to muni-finance, which is now up for sale?

I didnt say revenues are terrific. I said performance is terrific, and that is meant
given current market dislocations and in comparison to other ibanks. Obviously revenues
have dropped all across the board.

No offers will be rescinded, although last week there was an email to starting analysts
in the London office offering a limited number of spots in a voluntary starting date
"deferral program".

If you're a summer this year, I wouldnt worry too much. They will need new analysts next
year as well, and the numbers they reduce first are the direct hires next year, not the
number of people they hire out of the summer program.

They are trying very hard not to repeat the mistake of the dotcom crisis where they fired
everybody during the downturn and then didnt have enough capacity during the upswing.
Again, the mood at the event with the 70 starting EMEA analysts was very upbeat. My
personal impression is that we're halfway through the crisis, with a few more writedowns
to come this quarter, but that next year will be more or less unimpaired. M&A volumes
have dropped overall, sure, fine, but we're still above 2006 levels, so who cares.