Lenders First Gulf Bank and Standard Chartered are reported to have cut jobs from their United Arab Emirates operations due to difficult economic conditions.
“FGB has released a number of staff as a result of efficiency measures that have streamlined and reduced roles across the operation,” the bank said in a statement.
“This is in line with FGB’s robust approach to cost and resource management which remains a key driver of FGB’s successful financial performance.”
FGB did not mention how many jobs it had cut but a Reuters report, quoting sources, said that it slashed close to 100 jobs last week.
Meanwhile, Standard Chartered said that it had cut about 100 jobs from its local operations as part of its restructuring strategy. The lender had earlier said that it would cut 15,000 jobs globally by 2018 to reduce costs.
Most of the staff exits to date from Standard Chartered were at senior level, Gulf News reported. But the bank could potentially cut jobs in its retail division too.
The massive lay-offs across FGB and Standard Chartered follow reports of British lender HSBC slashing 150 jobs from its commercial and retail banking divisions in the UAE.
Banks across the region are undergoing a liquidity squeeze after government deposits dropped as a result of low oil revenues.
Many have lowered their growth expectations for the next year and are undertaking significant cost cuts to survive the period.
