What had already been leaked to the media became a certainty this Monday: Julius Baer will cut about one in ten jobs in Switzerland over the coming months. This comes after assets under management reached new record levels in 2024 and profits recovered from the 2023 downturn. The SBEA is outraged by this announced wave of job cuts.

Julius Baer was founded in Zurich in 1890. It must remain a Swiss bank, where social partnership plays a central role in the interest of all employees in the sector.

We are also deeply concerned that the social partners were only informed after the media had already reported the news—and only after the consultation process with employees had already been initiated.

We are shocked not only by the scale of the announced cuts—nearly 400 jobs in Switzerland, most of them in back office and IT functions—but also by the haste with which this latest cost-cutting measure is being implemented at the expense of the staff. This comes despite Julius Baer having already conducted mass layoffs in 2020, 2021, and 2024. At the same time, the bank increased its workforce by 170 employees just last year. And all this before the new CEO’s announced strategy has even been outlined. In other words, the bank does not yet know where it will go in the future, but it has already decided that it can do without one tenth of its workforce. This message is demotivating for employees and a slap in the face, particularly for long-standing, loyal staff.

The SBEA, together with its members at the bank, will actively engage in the ongoing consultation process to ensure that as few employees as possible lose their jobs. Thanks to our efforts in recent years, the improved social plan provides a solid basis for cushioning the impact of layoffs and early retirements. However, we call for additional accompanying measures, particularly in order to protect older and long-serving employees in lower and middle-ranking positions.

We also demand that Julius Baer maintain all its existing locations in Switzerland, and that no jobs be relocated abroad purely for cost reasons. Julius Baer’s success is built on the reliability and dedication of its employees in Switzerland. They must not—once again—be the ones to pay the price for the management’s lack of strategy in recent years, nor for the debacle that those in charge have caused with the loans granted to René Benko.