Deutsche Bank axes 18,000 staff around the world, including Sydney, New York and London offices

Deutsche Bank staff were in tears and told to clear their desks after the banking giant announced a bombshell global purge.

Deutsche Bank has axed staff from around the world as part of an 18,000-person purge in a 7.4 billion euro ($A11.9 billion) “reinvention” process.

Staff at the German bank’s London office were reportedly told to clear their desks by 11am, with many hitting the pub holding white envelopes containing their redundancy notices.

Other workers were in tears after being told to pack up their things just hours after the bank dropped the bombshell announcement.

According to The Australian, staff received an email at 1am telling them to attend a meeting at 8am the same morning.

At Deutsche Bank‘s office tower in Sydney’s CBD, security patrolled the entrance and circled the surrounding streets following the mass firings which reportedly have claimed entire teams in the Sydney and Asia Pacific region.

“It’s an upsetting time for everybody,” a Deutsche Bank operations manager told news.com.au outside the building today.

He said those who lost their jobs were “cleared out” yesterday. “They’re gone,” he said, explaining the company took care of the firing process in one day, worldwide.

Stressed looking workers wandered out of the building, holding papers in clear manilla folders. They declined to speak with media.

“Anyone who talks (to media) will be a person who doesn’t work here anymore,” he said.

According to NBC News, workers in Sydney leaving the building were unable to identify themselves as they left the building, as they were required to return to work to sign redundancy packages.

The German bank plans to close all of its equity trading business and cut some parts of its fixed income operations in an overhaul expected to lead to 18,000 job cuts.

The bank’s Australian equities division, which has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, will be impacted in the global axing.

But the cuts are expected to have the largest impact on the bank’s New York and London offices.

“I was terminated this morning, there was a very quick meeting and that was it,” said one London IT worker, who left while Deutsche Bank chief executive Christian Sewing was inside the building doing a call with the media.

Few staff wanted to speak outside the bank’s London office, but trade was picking up at the nearby Balls Brothers pub around lunchtime.

“I got laid off, where else would I go?” said a man who had just lost his job in equity sales.

People exit Deutsche Bank's Manhattan headquarters with white envelopes that are reportedly their exit papers following news the global banking giant is letting go of thousands of employees. Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

Shares in Deutsche Bank, which prior to the cuts had over 90,000 staff worldwide, were down 6.1 per cent late yesterday, and its bonds also fell.

Staff in its equities division in Sydney and Hong Kong were among the first to be told their roles would go.

“If you have a job for me, please let me know,” said a banker leaving the Hong Kong office on Monday.

Staff leaving in Hong Kong were also seen holding envelopes with the bank’s logo. Three employees took a picture of themselves beside a Deutsche Bank sign outside, hugged and then hailed a taxi.

“They give you this packet and you are out of the building,” said one equities trader.

“The equities market is not that great, so I may not find a similar job, but I have to deal with it,” said another.

At the bank’s Wall Street office, staff impacted by the cuts were summoned to the cafeteria to learn of their fate. A notice inside the building’s lobby told staff the cafeteria would be closed until 11.30am EST.

Hundreds of staff were informed during the meetings their positions were being cut, sources within the bank told Reuters. They also received details of their redundancy packages. One source said staff could be seen saying their goodbyes to colleagues upon leaving the cafeteria.

Speaking outside the bank’s office, one employee told Reuters the cuts had been anticipated for weeks.

“People have been planning their next moves, but it’s a tough market,” the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Another employee, who asked not to be named, said the bank held a short meeting in its auditorium at 9.30am EST to inform staff of the cutbacks. He said he was later handed an envelope informing him of his redundancy. The staffer said he and his colleagues had known the impending cuts were likely for the past couple of weeks.

Deutsche Bank has started to make the first of a proposed 18,000 job cuts as part of a radical restructuring plan. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Some of those roles will be cut immediately, while some staff will be kept on for longer while they help wind down operations.

A Deutsche Bank employee in Bengaluru told Reuters he and several colleagues were told first thing their jobs were going.

“We were informed that our jobs have become redundant and handed over our letters and given approximately a month’s salary,” he said.

“The mood is pretty hopeless right now, especially (among) people who are single-earners or have big financial burdens such as loans to pay,” he added.

Deutsche spokespeople in Hong Kong and London declined to comment on specific details about the number of departures but said they would try to support people being made redundant.

For those losing their jobs in equities, finding a new one could prove difficult, with the industry still grappling with higher costs from new European regulations on share trading.

“The job market in equities is going to be very tough,” said George Kuznetsov, head of research and analytics at Coalition, which analyses the investment banking industry.

“Our expectations is for equities sales and trading revenues falling 7-8 per cent this year, and that, of course, is going to put a lot of halts into the hiring across most of the brokers.”

There was some relief for Deutsche Bank staff whose jobs are safe for now but also big doubts about the future.

“The biggest question for us is where do we go from here if we don’t offer the whole suite of products? Will clients stick with us or is the game over?” said a Singapore banker who remains in his job.

Journalists outside the Deutsche Bank building in London. Picture: Natasha Livingstone/AP

Deutsche Bank has been operating in Australia since 1973.

In Australia, the bank provides services across corporate finance, equities, fixed income, currencies and global transaction banking.

Deutsche’s website says its Sydney office has 700 people and is one of its four hubs, including Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo, in the Asia-Pacific region.

Originally published as Deutsche Bank axes 18,000 staff around the world, including Sydney, New York and London offices