100,000 job cuts coming in the German banking industry

It’s been a bleak day for jobs in German banks. Commerzbank announced plans to cut 4,000-6,000 job by 2016,  HypoVereinsbank said it will cut 1,000 jobs by 2014. And Allianz, said it will cut its small Allianz Bank unit, with the loss of 450 jobs this June.

Unfortunately, there may be many more job cuts to come.  Hans-Joachim Schettler, Managing Director of Confidum, a financial services consultancy, predicts that German banks will need to make 100,000 redundancies between now and 2025.

Two main factors are contributing to the decline in German retail banking jobs, said Schettler: fewer than 50% of German households have investable assets in excess of €5,000 and low interest rates are eroding banks’ net interest income.

Verdi, a German trade union, which represents banking workers said 1,400 of Commerzbank’s job cuts would take affect abroad, suggesting investment bankers London and New York may be affected.