Wall St jobs axe threatens 70,000

[bigbadwolf]

In the FT:

The financial industry is bracing for a fresh round of job cuts as Wall Street banks slash costs to cushion the blow of further market turbulence and deepening economic woes in 2009.


Executives and analysts say the redundancies - to be finalised this month as banks prepare next year's budgets - could top 70,000 among US groups alone and add to the estimated 150,000 jobs already lost by the financial sector worldwide.


The job losses are expected to be concentrated in the investment banking and trading businesses that have been hit hard by the near-freeze in capital markets and the collapse in takeover and financing activity.

 

[bigbadwolf]

In the FT:

Citigroup to slash 50,000 jobs

Citigroup is aiming to slash its global workforce by around 50,000 in the "near term" as part of an effort by the largest US bank to shrink its business after suffering heavy losses.
In a presentation to staff on Monday Vikram Pandit, Citigroup's chief executive, outlined plans to shrink its cost base by around 20 per cent to $50bn-$52bn next year. The bank also has a "near term" target for its workforce of around 300,000, compared to 352,000 at the end of September.

 

[IlyaKEightSix]

So long as I can squeeze into a position that will value me for honesty and hard work, let the blood flow. Too many idiots with charisma selling snake oil. Axe them all.

 

[bigbadwolf]

In the FT:

The party is over and the hangover has kicked in. In economies all over the western world, corporate executives and the rising stars of finance are beginning to think that this downturn could be different.


Unlike the dotcom bust, which briefly crimped sales of champagne and Porsches before the good times started again, this slump is prompting Wall Street executives and Kensington yummy mummies alike to rethink their attitudes to their career, values and spending habits.

The shift is showing up in employment offices, churches and shopping malls, as jobless bankers look for different careers, parishioners seek counsel and shoppers reach the limits of their credit cards. In boardrooms, merger talks have taken on a new tone as the managers of troubled target companies have become far more willing to give up their titles to save their businesses.

The financial services sector is expected to lose up to 150,000 jobs, making Wall Street and the City of London the epicentres of the new austerity. Even those that still have jobs are starting to question their 20-hour work days and slavish focus on bonuses.

Headhunters say that younger City workers, facing their first downturn, are opting for teaching, travel and a change of pace. Older executives are scaling back their financial expectations and seeking more stable work.

"I think we'll see people leaving the industry even if there are opportunities for them. They'll say: 'I'd rather do something that is less fraught with peaks and troughs,'" says Michael Rendell, head of human resources consulting for PwC.

A survey commissioned by Axa found that one in three Britons had lied to their friends and family about their financial situation. Most were hiding bad news; one executive emptied his children's savings accounts so he could pretend he had received a bonus.

 

[Peter]

Unlike the dotcom bust, which briefly crimped sales of champagne and Porsches before the good times started again,

Not to take anything away from the turmoil in our career, but as an ex-Californian who was living in CA before, during, and after the dot-com period, I can definitely say the bust can hardly be categorized this way.

The good times never really came back. What happened is that the industry grew up and was forced to be responsible. I don't think you'll see companies with dozens of employees whose position is "evangelist" any longer. Companies are no longer sending representatives to user groups and hobbyist groups with "swag" of laptops, desktops, and high-tech electronic gadgets.

 

[Kent]

Time to start your own fund?

 

[doug reich]

I think the reference to the dotcom was to wall street, not silicon valley. Considering Wall Street firms were making record profits a few short years later, this seems to be an accurate portrayal.

 

[Kent]

I think it has just begun... Don't even bother comparing it to the tech bubble hah.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Another round of job cut

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group AG, Switzerland’s second-largest bank, said it will cut 5,300 jobs, or 11 percent of its workforce, after losses of about 3 billion francs ($2.5 billion) in the first two months of this quarter.

The reductions will be primarily in the investment bank and help save 2 billion francs in costs, the Zurich-based bank said in an e-mailed statement today. Credit Suisse will take a charge for of 900 million francs for the measures, mostly in the fourth quarter, which isn’t yet reflected in the net loss estimate.

Credit Suisse said its chairman, chief executive officer and head of the investment bank won’t get any variable compensation for 2008 after about 5.2 billion francs in net losses so far this year. The securities unit had a “significant” pretax loss in October and November as the bank cut risks in “challenging” markets, the bank said.

The investment bank will reduce the scale of operations in complex products and exit some proprietary trading activities in the reorganization, Credit Suisse said. The majority of job cuts will be implemented by the end of June 2009.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Another one from State Street where a few of our members are former and current employees.

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- State Street Corp., the world’s largest money manager for institutions, plans to cut 1,700 jobs, the latest in a wave of financial-sector layoffs during the worst year for U.S. stocks since the Great Depression.

State Street will shed about 6 percent of its 28,700 employees by March, with about two-thirds of the reductions affecting workers in North America, the Boston-based company said yesterday in a statement. The layoffs will mostly come in middle and senior management ranks.

 

[Yan He]

It's tough job market now. While there's still hiring I am sure. We just hired one PHD girl, and today anouncement came, we just took back a Risk Manager from Lehman, (well, former Lehman), who left two years ago to join Lehman.

I think there must be these hiring and -rehiring happen in other firms/banks.

Good luck for those still hunting for job.

 

[bigbadwolf]

In the FT:

Hours after Mr Dimon's comments, Bank of America underscored the problems gripping the sector with the announcement of up to 35,000 job cuts after its planned takeover of Merrill Lynch. BofA said the redundancies, which equate to around 11 per cent of the two companies' workforce, would take place during the next three years.