"Pink Slips" Flood Wall Street
Wall Street firms continue to make massive job cuts in the aftermath of the subprime securities crisis and resulting credit crunch. Unfortunately, a lot more cuts may be on the horizon. Even those who are fortunate enough to keep their jobs are experiencing reductions in compensation.
Mark Zandi, chief economist and co-founder of research firm Moody's Economy.com said, "The job prospects for Wall Street through this time next year are about as bad as for any industry in the country. And people who hang on to jobs will suffer through less compensation. The Wall Street job engine won't be going again until sometime in the next decade."
Recent developments across virtually every Wall Street firm underscore Mr. Zandi’s conclusions:
• J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s takeover of Bear Stearns Cos. is expected to cost at least half of Bear's 14,000 employees their jobs.
• UBS recently joined the ranks of Wall Street companies laying off at least 10 percent of its workforce. UBS AG told the leaders of its investment banking unit to ready job cuts of 10 percent “across the board.” Additional details are scheduled to be released in May.
• Merrill Lynch is planning to cut 10 to 15 percent of its workforce (other than brokers) in May as well. However, Merrill hopes to make the cuts as quietly as possible.
• Citigroup Inc. will get rid of more than 9000 jobs in addition to the 4200 cuts announced last quarter.
• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announced intentions to cut the weakest 5 percent of its employees.
• Lehman Brothers Holdings is likely to cut closer to 10 percent of its workforce rather than the 5 percent previously reported.
Page Perry, LLC is an Atlanta-based law firm with over 125 years collective experience representing investors in securities related litigation and arbitration. The firm also has an active practice in representing individuals in employment disputes with brokerage firms. The firm is currently involved in representing several brokers in such disputes. For further information, please contact www.pageperry.com.
