The air feels heavier inside big-city bank offices this year. Meeting rooms once filled with chatter now echo with the sound of keyboards being cleared and drawers locked for good. Across the world, thousands of finance workers are being shown the door as the banking sector layoffs 2025 wave stretches from New York to Sydney.
The shift looks different from the danger of field work in hardest jobs in the world or dangerous jobs in the world, yet it carries its own strain. These cuts aren’t caused by accidents or hazards. They come from numbers, software, and cold efficiency.
| Bank | Approx. Jobs Cut | Reason | Main Region |
| Morgan Stanley | 2,000 | Cost trimming | U.S. |
| Goldman Sachs | 1,400 | Automation and review | Global |
| HSBC & Hang Seng | 3,000+ | Investment overhaul | Asia |
| UBS Group AG | 3,500 | Credit Suisse merger | Europe |
| JPMorgan Chase | 329 | Branch closures | U.S. |
| ANZ Bank | 3,500 | Digital shift | Australia |
| Commonwealth Bank | 108 | Automation | Australia |
| Citigroup | Ongoing | Efficiency plans | Global |
| Regional Banks | Hundreds | Mergers | Europe, Asia |
| Back-office Roles | Thousands | AI processes | Global |
The cuts aren’t happening in silence anymore. They’ve become routine headlines, announced in morning memos and closed-door meetings that end with escorted exits. Some call it modernization. Others call it hollowing out.
Roughly 2,000 jobs gone. Mostly in wealth management and trading desks. The firm said it was about “balance.” Workers say it felt like a quiet sweep before quarterly reports.
About 1,400 roles cut as new systems replaced middle-tier analysts. Emails went out early one morning, many reading them before breakfast.
Hong Kong and Singapore offices were hit the hardest. Hang Seng removed 1 percent of staff; HSBC continued its broad cost reductions through 2025.
After absorbing Credit Suisse, the bank dropped 3,500 positions. It wasn’t just duplication. Some say the culture shift made staying impossible.
329 staff in New Jersey lost jobs during branch downsizing. Local offices closed faster than anyone expected.
Australia’s ANZ axed 3,500 jobs in its biggest restructure in years. Meetings that once filled full floors now run with half the staff.
Only 108 jobs cut, yet symbolic, a sign automation now handles customer calls once managed by humans.
The numbers are still unclear. Layoffs trickle in waves. Compliance and data divisions seem next on the list.
Small European and Asian banks quietly cut dozens each month as mergers thin local operations.
This is the invisible layer of job loss, AI replacing routine reporting, customer replies, and fraud checks. The lights stay on, but fewer people stand behind them.
The industry looks steady from outside, profits holding, buildings lit, yet inside, the temperature feels colder. Conversations about “efficiency” now start with headcounts.
Experts predict job recovery by 2027, but mostly in new roles that didn’t exist before: data risk, cybersecurity, digital audits. For now, those left in the sector describe uneasy calm, quiet offices, fewer meetings, quicker decisions.
A mid-level banker in London summed it up recently: “It’s strange. The numbers look great. The people don’t.”
That sentence carries what the charts miss. The world’s largest banks aren’t failing. They’re shrinking on purpose, trimming, merging, automating, repeating. Somewhere between the screens and spreadsheets, the old rhythm of banking work has slipped away.
UBS Group AG led with about 3,500 job cuts tied to the Credit Suisse merger.
Automation, overlapping teams after mergers, and profit preservation.
Yes. The U.S., Europe, and Asia-Pacific offices saw the most cuts.
Analysts expect limited rehiring in digital finance and AI governance roles.
Some institutions launched short tech courses, though few match the job losses.
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