Japan's Biggest Banks Confront Harsh Reality With Cost Overhaul
- Mizuho is said to weigh cutting third of workforce in 10 years
- BOJ says lenders’ overcapacity is putting pressure on profit
The Mizuho Financial Group Inc. headquarters, center right, stands at dusk in this photograph taken with a fish-eye lens in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, April 21, 2017.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/BloombergYears of shrinking interest rates, demographic challenges and threats from rapidly advancing technology are finally coming to a head at Japan’s biggest banks as they prepare to eliminate thousands of positions and downsize branches.
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. is considering cutting as many as 19,000 jobs -- about a third of its workforce -- mainly through attrition over the next 10 years, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. is considering shrinking its workforce by about 10,000 over a decade, Chief Executive Officer Nobuyuki Hirano has said. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. plans to “streamline” 4,000 positions over three years by digitizing branches and making processes more efficient.