10,000 finance job cuts forecast

Word has it ML will be cutting 4k.

It's going to get real ugly:

https://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/58b91e38-0c93 ... fd2ac.html

Citigroup’s Pandit vows major cost cuts

By Francesco Guerrera and Ben White in New York

Published: April 17 2008 18:18 | Last updated: April 17 2008 18:18

Vikram Pandit, Citigroup’s chief executive, has vowed to slash the beleaguered financial group’s cost base by up to 20 per cent, deepening fears that Wall Street and the City of London are about to be hit by tens of thousands of additional job losses.

Mr Pandit, who took over Citi in December, indicated cuts in operating exenses would not only come from reductions in the 370,000-strong workforce, but also from improvements in computer systems and a greater focus on core businesses.

However, his cost-reduction targets suggest Citi, which is likely to report a large first-quarter loss on Friday, could cut more jobs than expected. Analysts predict the company will shed around 25,000 jobs in the next few months after two years of rapid expense growth, which left it with $61.5bn in operating expenses in 2007.

”It is clearly feasible for us to take 10, 15, 20 per cent off our cost base, especially in information technology and operations,” Mr Pandit said.

Merrill Lynch said on Thursday it would slash 4,000 jobs after suffering a $2bn first quarter loss, bringing to nearly 40,000 the number of positions lost at financial companies since the onset of the credit crunch.

More layoffs are inevitable, with JPMorgan Chase expected to eliminate a large majority of Bear Stearns’ 14,000 jobs following its acquisition of the troubled bank.

In the interview, Mr Pandit rebuffed calls for a break-up of Citi, reaffirming his belief in its model of combining retail, commercial and investment banking.

“The great thing about Citi is its universal banking model,” the former Morgan Stanley executive said. “You just can’t simply take deposits, you have to do something with them and you can’t run trading businesses if you can’t fund them.”

However, he said Citi would divest businesses that do not fit with the rest of the group.

“Anything that smells like a conglomerate is going to be gone. We have to get rid of those businesses,” Mr Pandit said. ”We are getting out of all our hobbies and focusing on our core competencies.”

On Thursday, Citi announced the sale of its North American commercial lending and leasing business, which has more than $13bn in assets, to General Electric for an undisclosed sum. Last week, Citi sold its Diners Club International credit-card network.

Beyond job cuts, Mr Pandit said one of his key priorities would be reducing Citi’s information technology budget, which runs into the tens of billions of dollars.

Citi’s sprawling IT operation has 23,000 developers, on a par with many large technology companies, and is highly decentralised – a structure that led to duplication of functions and an increase in expenses.

One of Mr Pandit’s first moves has been to centralise IT decisions in New York under chief administrative officer Don Callahan, a close ally.

https://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0cca6040-0d65 ... fd2ac.html

I like this line at the end:

“They may as well put Prozac in our pay cheques from now.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Financial services braced for job losses

By Lina Saigol, M&A Editor

Published: April 18 2008 20:20 | Last updated: April 18 2008 20:20

“It’s a recession when your neighbour loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose yours.”

The words of former US president Harry Truman are ringing in the ears of bankers and traders this week after their bosses announced sweeping job cuts that will hit the City of London.

UBS to cut 5,500 jobs in subprime wake

Reuters

May 6, 2008 at 2:01 AM EDT

ZURICH — — Swiss bank UBS AG [UBS-N] said it would cut 5,500 jobs or almost 7 per cent of its work force through layoffs and attrition in the wake of the subprime credit crisis as it reverses a rapid expansion into investment banking.

UBS said conditions in the financial markets and the global economy remained difficult and reported a first-quarter loss of 11.54 billion Swiss francs ($10.9-billion U.S.), slightly better than what it had already announced in April.

The bank recorded net inflows in its two wealth management businesses of 5.6 billion francs, according to a statement on Tuesday. Analysts polled by Reuters on average had expected inflows of 9 billion and a net loss of 11.9 billion.

UBS is Europe's biggest banking sector casualty of the subprime crisis after posting over $37-billion in writedowns. The crisis ripped a hole in UBS's balance sheet and exposed widespread weaknesses in strategy, risk control and management culture.
UBS AG

UBS has since pared its ambitions, swept out senior management and raised around 39 billion francs in new capital.

Tuesday's announcements mark the largest effort made to date by the bank to reshape itself and face a downturn in the investment banking sector.

UBS was expected by analysts to slash around 10 per cent of its investment banking work force of 22,000.

Pressure remains on UBS to do more, with activist investor group Olivant criticizing UBS's choice of lawyer Peter Kurer as its new chairman and calling on the bank to consider selling off its investment bank.

UBS shares have risen around 15 per cent in the past month, compared with a rise of roughly 3 per cent in the DJ Stoxx European banking sector index, making it the biggest heavyweight gainer as confidence returns to the financial markets.

Prior to the recent rally, UBS was the biggest share price loser among heavyweight blue chips.

Analysts expect the bank to post a net loss of over 5 billion Swiss francs in 2008 on the back of subprime writedowns, restructuring costs and lower earnings.

We need to change the title of this main forum to "xxx,xxx finance job cuts over x years" at the rate we're going here!

One would think that UBS learned its lesson when it got blown up along with LTCM the last decade. They were the biggest loser then, and now they are shaping up to be the biggest loser during the sub-prime meltdown.

I guess the saying is true about short memories in the realm of finance.

Just finished reading Liars Poker...
One interesting thing it mentioned towards the end was that all the new trainees kept their offers/jobs, but ended up in the back office instead of S&T