UBS has to admit in its annual report: Staff turnover is a risk factor

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The bonus pot for the last financial year was well over 4 billion not only for the management team but also for the staff. That’s slightly less generous than the total the two major banks are paying employees at the end of 2022. But this can probably also be explained by the fact that several thousand fewer employees have worked at the new UBS since the takeover.

The big wave of layoffs hasn’t even started yet; In fact, it won’t start until this year. So the bonus pot primarily serves to keep important employees at the company. We hear again and again that entire teams, including customer relations, are competing. So, for example, to private banks or cantonal banks.

Risk of employee turnover

UBS’s annual report shows that the bank hired more than 11,000 additional employees last year. However, the total number of employees decreased. This means that the blood of the wand must be large. It’s so big that the bank gives it a subsection in its annual report.

Under the heading “Risk factors”, shareholders are warned about the danger that the bank “may not be able to retain or employ sufficient qualified employees”. It continues: “The loss of key employees could seriously compromise the implementation of the strategy.” This risk is increasing due to “increased attrition among CS employees.”

This is exactly what the Swiss Association of Bank Employees is urgently warning about: “From the first day we stated that the employees of both banks should be treated equally,” says Natalia Ferrara (42), the association’s general manager. “UBS must understand that this is about combining two cultures.” And not to pit one against the other.

I didn’t learn much

The same leadership and employment opportunities are needed for both CS and UBS employees, Ferrara said. This was the only way to prevent even more spontaneous separations. Ferrara warns: “This integration is a democratic process, not a dictatorship.”

After all: UBS seems to have realized that many CS employees are less than happy with their new employers and still feel like second-class bankers. However, UBS management’s conclusions from this finding are not included in the annual report. We have only one piece of advice for shareholders. Please approve the remuneration to be paid to the Board of Directors and managers at the General Assembly meeting to be held at the end of April. Rejection could negatively impact retention of “experienced directors and executives.”

Source :Blick