Societe Generale to Cut 650 Jobs in France

French investment banking giant, Societe Generale has become the latest in the industry to reduce its workforce by cutting 650 jobs in France. The reductions will be done primarily in its investment banking division, according to the French business, daily Les Echos.

The decision for these job cuts was finalized last week following the bank’s meeting with union representatives.

Most of these cuts will be made in SocGen’s back office in the Paris region. The bank’s market operations division will be the worst hit while its securities services division will also see some cuts.

Citing anonymous sources, the report further detailed that 100 traders might face the axe under the plan. The cuts could be extended to the bank’s retail businesses.

Impressive Q3

The decision for these job cuts was finalized after the investment bank reported strong results for the third quarter of this year with a net income of 862 million euros ($1.011 billion), beating the analysts’ estimates. Notably, the bank recovered from its worst three months’ performance in the previous quarter.

Earlier in August, SocGen revealed its plans to reduce 450 million euros ($534 million) in costs within its capital markets units by 2023. However, it is not clear if the recent job cuts are part of that plan.

Last year, the French banking giant reduced 1,600 jobs globally, 752 came from the French offices.

Similar to SocGen, other major European banks are also reducing their workforce, mainly to reduce operational costs. Most recently, ING Group NV decided to cut 1,000 jobs and close down offices in South America and Asia as it is moving towards digital transformation.

However, HSBC’s restructuring program remained one of the largest as the bank is showing 35,000 staff that will exit the company. It already cut hundreds of jobs from its offices in the United Kingdom and France.