A week of Wall Street layoffs
As protesters find new ways to “Occupy Wall Street”, major financial firms have been busy handing out pink slips this week.
It’s the second week of what’s expected to be a brutal season for job cuts as big banks have already announced that there will roughly 75,000 fewer people working at their firms.
Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase commenced new rounds of job cuts this week, following the lead of Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and RBS.
Most of the layoffs at Bank of America this week came from the firm’s investment banking and capital markets divisions, according to a source close to the firm. A Bank of America spokesperson declined to comment. In September, Bank of America announced planned cuts of 30,000 employees over the next several years.
JPMorgan Chase’s spokesperson wouldn’t discuss whether any jobs had been cut or any numbers. “There were no job cuts beyond those previously announced months ago.”
In the firm’s third quarter earnings conference call, JPMorgan Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon said the firm would see a reduction in headcount but no major layoffs. Sources familiar with the bank’s activities this week said that a number of traders were handed pink slips this week.
“Things have gotten pretty bad, pretty fast,” said Richard Lipstein, managing director of the executive search firm Boyden. Lipstein said he’s seen a big uptick in jobseekers over the past two weeks, particularly among midlevel executives.
Mid-to-late November is typically the season for layoffs, as banks want to avoid making cuts during the holidays in December. By doing it before year-end, these employees aren’t eligible for bonuses. (more)
