It looks like the job cuts at Bank of America could be three times as bad as expected. Business television station CNBC is reporting that up to 30,000 jobs could be cut as Bank of America merges with Merrill Lynch.
If there's any good news in this for Charlotte, it's that the vast majority of the job cuts are supposed to be in New York City.
UNC Charlotte professor Tony Plath says most of the cuts are rumored to be in investment banking.
"It's going to hit the Merrill Lynch side harder than it will hit the general bank," Plath told us. Plath added that even the cuts on the Bank of America side are likely to be mostly out of New York, because that's where B of A's investment banking is headquartered.
Still, Plath says if 30,000 jobs are cut, there's no way Charlotte can escape unscathed. He estimates the Queen City will lose anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand jobs, but says it's too early to tell.
Plath says the timing of these cuts couldn't be worse. They'll likely take effect late this year into the first quarter of next year. During that first quarter, Wells Fargo is also expected to announce job cuts when it completes its expected takeover of Wachovia.
"Both of those layoff rounds are going to hit the market in Charlotte at the same time," Plath said. "It's going to be a bad first quarter here."
Plath says the effect of Wells Fargo/Wachovia job cuts is likely to hit the Queen City harder than the Bank of America cuts will -- meaning the bad news for Charlotte is far from over.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
IT, jobs, Layoffs in India, Layoffs in USA
Bank layoffs: J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Standard Chartered and more
Source: The Deal.com
With the recession official, banks are trimming back. Tuesday many banks announced more layoffs. See the latest announcements after the jump.
Many U.S. banks are trimming back before the end of the fourth quarter.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. will lay off 9,200 or 21% of Washington Mutual Inc.'s employees by the end of 2009. Around half of the layoffs will be before the end of January.
With the recession official, banks are trimming back. Tuesday many banks announced more layoffs. See the latest announcements after the jump.
Many U.S. banks are trimming back before the end of the fourth quarter.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. will lay off 9,200 or 21% of Washington Mutual Inc.'s employees by the end of 2009. Around half of the layoffs will be before the end of January.
- Bank of America Corp. is expected to cut about 10,000 investment banking jobs at in its combination with Merrill Lynch & Co., according to CNBC.
- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has cut its Dubai-based work force, a bank official told the Gulf Times.
International banks are also announcing layoffs.
-German-based bank, Bayerische Landesbank, plans to slash 5,600 jobs.
-Credit Suisse Group said it was cutting 650 jobs.
-HSBC Holdings plc said it was cutting 500 jobs at its British banking business and will cut 200 jobs in Hong Kong, according to the International Herald Tribune.
-Standard Chartered plc is trimming 572 jobs at its main office in South Korea and 200 in Hong Kong.
-Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc and Macquarie Group Ltd. are eliminating a combined 260 jobs in Hong Kong, according to the China Morning Post. Royal Bank of Scotland is eliminating 3,000 jobs in its investment banking division. Rumor is that 250 cuts will be in the bank's division in India.
IT market, jobs, Layoffs in India, Wipro
Hit by downturn, Wipro keeps 9,800 freshers waiting...
BANGALORE: Reeling under the impact of global meltdown, Wipro Technologies Ltd has kept about 9,800 graduate engineers, hired from campuses last year, waiting to join the IT bellwether, a company official said here on Tuesday.
"Of the total 13,500 campus offerings made across the country last year, we have taken 3,700 of them so far, while the remaining (9,800) have been told to wait for their turn to join," Wipro vice-president for talent acquisition Pradeep Bahirwani told reporters here at a hurriedly called press conference.
Due to slowdown in the IT industry and tough business environment, Bahirwani said, the company had discontinued campus offerings this fiscal for the time being.
"We have made 8,000 campus offers across the country in about 200 engineering colleges, including IITs and NITs (National Institutes of Technologies) this year as against 13,500 last year," Bahirwani said.
To make better use of the engineering freshers hired but not absorbed, the company has began to offer them the option of joining its BPO (business processes outsourcing) division at its software development centres in Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad for the same compensation fixed for IT services.
"To meet our BPO division's requirements in technical support, we have offered them the choice of coming onboard or wait as long for the joining date at the salary stack made in the offer letter. We hope to see a turn-around in business after 12-18 months to move them to IT services," Bahirwani said.
The company's novel initiative to ask freshers hired for IT services to join BPO division by paying upfront Rs.75,000 for bond backfired in Kolkata, with the hired engineers protesting against such the move and taking up the matter with West Bengal IT Minister Debash Das Monday.
"The option has been given in commensurate with our current requirements, which are more in BPO than in IT services, as technical support role requires engineering grads and not those from science or general stream. There is no compulsion or change in compensation," Bahirwani clarified.
Defending the offer to join the BPO division, the HR official said the decision was taken to give an opportunity to engineering graduates to get on work without further delay. Wipro's global IT services business had 97,552 employees, including 16,500 in the BPO division till the second quarter (July-September) of this fiscal.
"Of the total 13,500 campus offerings made across the country last year, we have taken 3,700 of them so far, while the remaining (9,800) have been told to wait for their turn to join," Wipro vice-president for talent acquisition Pradeep Bahirwani told reporters here at a hurriedly called press conference.
Due to slowdown in the IT industry and tough business environment, Bahirwani said, the company had discontinued campus offerings this fiscal for the time being.
"We have made 8,000 campus offers across the country in about 200 engineering colleges, including IITs and NITs (National Institutes of Technologies) this year as against 13,500 last year," Bahirwani said.
To make better use of the engineering freshers hired but not absorbed, the company has began to offer them the option of joining its BPO (business processes outsourcing) division at its software development centres in Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad for the same compensation fixed for IT services.
"To meet our BPO division's requirements in technical support, we have offered them the choice of coming onboard or wait as long for the joining date at the salary stack made in the offer letter. We hope to see a turn-around in business after 12-18 months to move them to IT services," Bahirwani said.
The company's novel initiative to ask freshers hired for IT services to join BPO division by paying upfront Rs.75,000 for bond backfired in Kolkata, with the hired engineers protesting against such the move and taking up the matter with West Bengal IT Minister Debash Das Monday.
"The option has been given in commensurate with our current requirements, which are more in BPO than in IT services, as technical support role requires engineering grads and not those from science or general stream. There is no compulsion or change in compensation," Bahirwani clarified.
Defending the offer to join the BPO division, the HR official said the decision was taken to give an opportunity to engineering graduates to get on work without further delay. Wipro's global IT services business had 97,552 employees, including 16,500 in the BPO division till the second quarter (July-September) of this fiscal.
IT market, jobs, Wipro
Wipro seeing a few cancellations, more delays
Indian IT outsourcing company Wipro is seeing a few customers cancel contracts and more delaying or downsizing deals as a result of deteriorating global economic conditions, its joint chief executive said.
Girish Paranjpe added that Wipro, India's third-biggest software services exporter, was feeling minimal impact from last week's attacks that killed almost 200 people in Mumbai, and reiterated that the company expects business to improve next year.
Referring to the Mumbai attacks, he told Reuters in an interview on Monday, "I don't see any operational impact of that ..." When asked about cancellations by Wipro's customers -- who include Cicso, Credit Suisse and Nortel -- he said: "Some few, but much more delay, postponement, resizing -- a few cancellations."
Paranjpe said he remained hopeful that business would pick up in the company's first quarter beginning in April next year after a slowing that began about a quarter ago. Customers cannot sustain constrained spending indefinitely, he said.
"About six months you can manage with compression, three to six months you can manage with compression. Beyond that, you have to start thinking longer-term," he said. "I'm still kind of optimistic that we would have gone past the bottom some time in the first fiscal quarter" next year, he added.
Sector leader Tata Consultancy Services and fellow large Indian outsourcer Infosys have recently expressed cautious optimism about the market, but like most peers they face at least short-term uncertainty.
Girish Paranjpe added that Wipro, India's third-biggest software services exporter, was feeling minimal impact from last week's attacks that killed almost 200 people in Mumbai, and reiterated that the company expects business to improve next year.
Referring to the Mumbai attacks, he told Reuters in an interview on Monday, "I don't see any operational impact of that ..." When asked about cancellations by Wipro's customers -- who include Cicso, Credit Suisse and Nortel -- he said: "Some few, but much more delay, postponement, resizing -- a few cancellations."
Paranjpe said he remained hopeful that business would pick up in the company's first quarter beginning in April next year after a slowing that began about a quarter ago. Customers cannot sustain constrained spending indefinitely, he said.
"About six months you can manage with compression, three to six months you can manage with compression. Beyond that, you have to start thinking longer-term," he said. "I'm still kind of optimistic that we would have gone past the bottom some time in the first fiscal quarter" next year, he added.
Sector leader Tata Consultancy Services and fellow large Indian outsourcer Infosys have recently expressed cautious optimism about the market, but like most peers they face at least short-term uncertainty.
Cost cutting, Infosys
Let’s begin by saving $10 per staff: Infosys CEO Kris
IT industry’s all-out efforts to control expenditure in the backdrop of what could be a grievous multi-year economic downturn has seen the tech posterboy Infosys Technologies now asking its employees to cut cost by at least $10 individually.
Detailing the most serious slowdown faced by the three decade-old IT offshoring story, Infy CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan, in an internal mail circulated to all the employees, says: “If each one of us is able to identify a savings of even $10–not just per day or per month–but $10 as a one-time effort from each one of us, that would translate to a saving of close to $1,000,000—which is a substantial amount.”
The $5-billion Infosys, the country’s second-largest software exporter, has over one lakh employees spread across globally. Mr Gopalakrishnan continues: “I urge each one of you as a key stakeholder of the company’s success, to examine your work environment and look at opportunities that will optimise utilisation and control expenditure. What may appear to be an insignificant saving at the ground level, may well add up to substantial savings when aggregated at the regional or global level..”
Mr Gopalakrishnan’s mail, drawing on varied research reports, has projected a longer recession in the global economy that may severely constrain the IT spending of its several clients.
“The recent economic developments across the globe are forcing all organisations, small, medium and large, to re-evaluate priorities and establish fiscally responsible measures that will ensure sustainability over the next 12–18 months.” Infy honcho’s mail said the recession is expected to continue well into 2009 with US and Japan economies shrinking.
Given this backdrop, Infosys has charted out four main objectives: to increase the billability and utilisation of all its employees around the globe; to increase revenues and margins; to identify cost optimisation opportunities, which may include increased leveraging of its lower cost locations for delivery; to improve the control over spend and optimise return on investment.
Recently, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji sent out mail to all its employees talking about controlling expenditure. Many IT companies have already begun rationalising costs by cutting down travel expenditure and with a freeze on hiring.
The internal mail adds, “As we explore and work through the opportunities toward creating sustainability, each of the units is looking to drive optimisation at all levels, and will draw upon you to support the process in a transparent manner, and with minimal disruption to business. A successful outcome will position Infosys well within the client base, and demonstrate our ability to positively respond to the dynamics of this global economy.”
Detailing the most serious slowdown faced by the three decade-old IT offshoring story, Infy CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan, in an internal mail circulated to all the employees, says: “If each one of us is able to identify a savings of even $10–not just per day or per month–but $10 as a one-time effort from each one of us, that would translate to a saving of close to $1,000,000—which is a substantial amount.”
The $5-billion Infosys, the country’s second-largest software exporter, has over one lakh employees spread across globally. Mr Gopalakrishnan continues: “I urge each one of you as a key stakeholder of the company’s success, to examine your work environment and look at opportunities that will optimise utilisation and control expenditure. What may appear to be an insignificant saving at the ground level, may well add up to substantial savings when aggregated at the regional or global level..”
Mr Gopalakrishnan’s mail, drawing on varied research reports, has projected a longer recession in the global economy that may severely constrain the IT spending of its several clients.
“The recent economic developments across the globe are forcing all organisations, small, medium and large, to re-evaluate priorities and establish fiscally responsible measures that will ensure sustainability over the next 12–18 months.” Infy honcho’s mail said the recession is expected to continue well into 2009 with US and Japan economies shrinking.
Given this backdrop, Infosys has charted out four main objectives: to increase the billability and utilisation of all its employees around the globe; to increase revenues and margins; to identify cost optimisation opportunities, which may include increased leveraging of its lower cost locations for delivery; to improve the control over spend and optimise return on investment.
Recently, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji sent out mail to all its employees talking about controlling expenditure. Many IT companies have already begun rationalising costs by cutting down travel expenditure and with a freeze on hiring.
The internal mail adds, “As we explore and work through the opportunities toward creating sustainability, each of the units is looking to drive optimisation at all levels, and will draw upon you to support the process in a transparent manner, and with minimal disruption to business. A successful outcome will position Infosys well within the client base, and demonstrate our ability to positively respond to the dynamics of this global economy.”
Cost cutting, Layoffs in India, Layoffs in USA
After layoffs, Citi now cuts down severance package for staff
NEW YORK: American behemoth Citigroup, which is axing over 75,000 jobs this year to help cut costs and fight financial crisis, is now slashing the severance package, that too for staff having put 10 or more years with the bank. Besides, the Vikram Pandit -led bank has also hinted at further job cuts in the coming days, after already having cut down or announced plans to bring down its workforce to below 3,00,000 employees from more than 3,75,000 at the end of 2007.
In an internal mail to all its employees in the US, Citi's Human Resources Head Paul McKinnon said on Monday that it would eliminate some “supplemental severance payment'' for the employees with 10 or more years of service, with effect from January 15, 2 009. ''... we have continued to review our policies and practices to ensure that they support our overall business objectives and remain competitive with industry standards. As a result, a decision has been made to amend the Citigroup Separation Pay Pl an (SPP) for US employees,'' the mail said.
Earlier last month, Citigroup's India-born CEO Vikram Pandit has said that the bank would bring down its headcount to below 3,00,000-- a plan that entails more than 52,000 job cuts in the current quarter alone. Prior to this announcement, Citi had alread y cut close to 25,000 jobs since the beginning of this year. Citi's headcount stood at 3,52,000 at the end of September quarter.
A few days after the massive layoff announcement, the US government came in to support crisis-ridden Citigroup with a rescue package that entails an overall capital infusion of about 40 billion dollars, alongside a guarantee for troubled assets worth 306 billion dollars with the bank. The rescue package has stripped down bank's dividend as well as executive compensation payments.
In an internal mail to all its employees in the US, Citi's Human Resources Head Paul McKinnon said on Monday that it would eliminate some “supplemental severance payment'' for the employees with 10 or more years of service, with effect from January 15, 2 009. ''... we have continued to review our policies and practices to ensure that they support our overall business objectives and remain competitive with industry standards. As a result, a decision has been made to amend the Citigroup Separation Pay Pl an (SPP) for US employees,'' the mail said.
Earlier last month, Citigroup's India-born CEO Vikram Pandit has said that the bank would bring down its headcount to below 3,00,000-- a plan that entails more than 52,000 job cuts in the current quarter alone. Prior to this announcement, Citi had alread y cut close to 25,000 jobs since the beginning of this year. Citi's headcount stood at 3,52,000 at the end of September quarter.
A few days after the massive layoff announcement, the US government came in to support crisis-ridden Citigroup with a rescue package that entails an overall capital infusion of about 40 billion dollars, alongside a guarantee for troubled assets worth 306 billion dollars with the bank. The rescue package has stripped down bank's dividend as well as executive compensation payments.
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