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6:02 p.m. | Updated
UBS, the embattled Swiss bank, said on Tuesday that it would cut 3,500 jobs in the next two and a half years to reduce costs.
About half of the jobs will be in the investment banking division, which has continued to be one of the bank’s worst performers. The rest of the layoffs will come from the wealth management and asset management businesses.
The measures were “designed to improve operating efficiency,” UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, said in a statement. “UBS will continue to be vigilant in managing its cost base while remaining committed to investing in growth areas.”
The bank’s chief executive, Oswald J. Grübel, said last month that he planned to eliminate two billion francs of costs after profit dropped 50 percent in the second quarter, but he did not give more details at the time. The bank had also warned that it would miss an earnings target set two years ago because a weaker economic outlook was expected to curb profit.
UBS said on Tuesday that about 45 percent of the 3,500 jobs to be cut would come from its investment banking unit. The unit has repeatedly reported dismal figures and has not fully recovered from huge losses during the financial crisis.
Some analysts had criticized UBS for lacking a clear strategy for the investment banking unit and questioned how big the business should be within UBS. Efforts by Carsten Kengeter, the former Goldman Sachs manager in charge of the investment banking unit, to overhaul the division were hampered recently by a string of departures among senior bankers. Mr. Grübel said in February that the unit’s performance was unsatisfactory and threatened to reduce it if revenue did not recover.
Other banks have announced job cuts amid weak earnings and concerns about a deteriorating global economy. HSBC plans to cut 30,000 jobs, Credit Suisse said it would cut 2,000 positions and the Lloyds Banking Group is eliminating 15,000 jobs.
Profit at UBS fell to 1 billion francs ($1.2 billion) in the three months through June, from 2 billion francs in the period a year earlier. Pretax profit in the investment banking unit slumped to 376 million francs from 1.3 billion francs.
The cost-cutting measures announced on Tuesday would result in one-time charges of about 550 million Swiss francs ($698 million), and most of the charges would be booked in the second half of this year, UBS said.