UBS is reportedly looking to trim its costs by $13 billion, which includes cutting one in every 12 employees, according to Reuters. A spokesperson for UBS declined to comment for this story. 

Data from state filings showed that five financial institutions announced New Jersey layoffs so far in 2024: The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, TD Bank, Prudential Financial, Citibank and JPMorgan Chase Bank. 

Some of those banks — including Citibank and Charles Schwab — are cutting their head counts by the thousands or tens of thousands across their entire operations.

Nationwide, Charles Schwab is cutting 2,000 employees and Citibank 20,000 of its staff. 

“Banks are reducing back-office costs, and this includes people and head count reductions, unfortunately,” said Christopher Marinac, director of research at Janney Montgomery Scott, a financial services firm. “Overall, bank earnings are stable and generally not growing. Further, bank balance sheets are not expanding much this year.” 

One factor — the Federal Reserve, which has raised interest rates 11 times since the COVID-19 pandemic. That pushed mortgage rates higher for homebuyers, meaning fewer people obtained mortgages, prompting Wall Street to respond with layoffs, said a report by CNBC. 

That resulted in the state’s first job losses in half a year, unemployment figures show.  

“Banks are being careful on new lending and trying to retain more capital as the Federal Reserve is tightening standards and raising capital requirements soon,” Marinac said.