European banks have announced nearly 50,000 job cuts so far in 2019, with the lion's share of the layoffs at lenders in Germany, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Commerzbank AG said in September that it plans to carry out a "regrettable but inevitable" reduction of its workforce by 4,300 as part of a new restructuring plan, although it will also hire 2,000. The cuts add to the 18,000 jobs Deutsche Bank AG said it will eliminate by 2022. Fellow German lender DZ Bank AG previously confirmed that it plans to cut nearly 500 jobs by 2023.
British banks also announced a large number of layoffs, led by HSBC Holdings PLC and Barclays PLC with 4,800 and 3,000 jobs, respectively.
Banks in Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Finland and Russia are also planning to cut jobs, against a background of higher costs. Most of the banks posted higher operating expenses in the first half of 2019 compared to the year before.

