\n Financial advice firms continue to shed employees, often a way to reduce costs.\n <\/p>\n
UBS<\/a> Group joins<\/a> the long list of financial advice and wealth management<\/a> firms that have eliminated<\/a> staff positions, cutting several hundred jobs \u2013 mainly support staff<\/a> – across \u200bits operations in Europe, \u200cthe Middle East and Africa, Bloomberg News reported last week.<\/p>\n UBS joins a number of firms \u2013 including Morgan Stanley<\/a> and LPL Financial<\/a> Holdings Inc. \u2013 that have recently cut jobs. The reductions in jobs at large firms are happening in an era when artificial intelligence software\u00a0is replacing back office jobs and firms are trying to boost profitability.<\/p>\n The layoffs at UBS are the \u200blatest wave of reductions tied \u2060to the acquisition of \u200bCredit Suisse<\/a> three years \u200bago, according to the report, which was cited by Reuters and other news publications. The staff cuts did not occur in the United States, where UBS has roughly 5,700 financial advisors.<\/p>\n A UBS spokesperson declined to comment.<\/p>\n UBS has previously said it expected to \u200blose around\u00a03,000\u00a0in \u200bSwitzerland as it integrates Credit Suisse, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n UBS joins the list of financial advice-focused firms cutting employees.<\/p>\n It was reported in March that Morgan Stanley planned to eliminate roughly 2,500 jobs across its global workforce, a move affecting about 3% of employees as the Wall Street giant adjusts its structure and priorities.<\/p>\n A month earlier, InvestmentNews reported that LPL Financial Holdings was cutting about 3% of its 10,100-person workforce.<\/p>\n