Chill wind for Dresdner back office and UBS researchers

While some banking employees are basking in the warm glow of rising pay, others are in danger of being thrown out in the cold.

Back office staff at Dresdner Bank could be next to be shown the door. Finextra a technology news website, says the recently merged corporate clients and investment banking unit of the German bank is preparing to cut hundreds of jobs in its back office.

Dresdner is apparently suffering an imbalance of front and back office staff: for every client facing person in the front office there are another 3.5 support staff in the back office.

Reports suggest it is looking to reduce this to a more manageable ratio of 2.5:1, either by adding front office staff or chopping in the back. Finextra sources its report to a piece in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and says Dresdner Bank declined to comment.

UBS researchers ready to brave the cold

While Dresdner's support staff prepare to face the world outside, researchers at UBS may also want to dig out their job search attire.

According to Financial News, the Swiss Bank is rumoured to be contemplating equity research redundancies.

UBS declined to comment on the matter. One headhunter said the rumour was pure speculation, but the bank was a prime target for equity research cuts. "If any bank was going to retrench in research, it would be UBS," he says. "They have far more research resources than any other bank."