Hollowing out a firm in decline - Senior Software Engineer UBS Employee Review

1.0
29 Jul 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

One of the top paying companies in Switzerland for employment. Title heavy in appearance. Director level has annual guaranteed minimum expense payment.

Cons

Company is involved in the long term process of slowly hollowing itself out. Investment Bank division in highly outsourced with cheap foreign contract staff. On-shored contractors are brought in on a temporary basis, rotated out frequently. Technical roles are typically off-shored (Poland, Singapore) to contract workers. Higher compensated permanent staff are targeted, laid off to facilitate the off-shoring. Technical staff for IB and WM divisions are parked in Corporate Centre division. From my observation, the CC division is structured to run at a loss; this strategy minimizes staff salary increases and bonus payments, as attached to division profitability. For all appearances, the Swiss government looks the other way, facilitating this Bad Actor company.

Explore other reviews about UBS

5.0
4 Jul 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

One of the biggest pros is brand value and global credibility. UBS is a top-tier global wealth management and investment bank, so having it on your resume immediately signals experience in a highly structured, regulated, and performance-driven environment. That tends to carry weight across financial services and corporate TA roles. Another major advantage is strong learning exposure. Because UBS operates across wealth management, investment banking, asset management, and corporate functions, employees usually get exposure to complex stakeholder groups, senior leadership, and high-volume, high-stakes hiring environments. For recruiting roles specifically, that often means experience with executive searches, niche skill sets, and global requisitions.

Cons

other factor is workload during restructuring cycles or market downturns. Financial services recruiting is highly market-sensitive, so hiring freezes or sudden ramps are common. That can create uncertainty or shifting priorities in requisition ownership and pipeline planning. From a career perspective, role specialization can sometimes feel narrow. While UBS is large, some employees find they become highly specialized in one function (like wealth management or a specific region), which may require intentional effort to broaden experience.

3.0
28 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good Learning opportunities, Tech savvy compared to other banking / fintech companies

Cons

Too much offshore, low cost resource strategies, Gap between functional & IT resources, CS merger favored many UBS employees and massive layoffs post UBS - CS merger. Hardly any bonus or pay increments.

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