The much anticipated new round of layoffs of Merrill Lynch began this morning, according to people familiar with the matter. We hear that Merrill began firing people starting at 7 am on the trading floor. The deepest cuts have been concentrated in FICC. In all, 1,600 positions said to be on the chopping block.
“Packages suck,” says one of those familiar people. “Three months pay and a $25,000 bonus from analyst to MD.”
Of course, Charlie Gasparino has been reporting exactly the 1,600 figure since like last week and yesterday said the cuts would come today. Score another one for Chucky Gees.
The cute sounding spokeswoman for Merrill declined to comment and nearly put us to sleep by talking about how "material disclosures" would be made according to regulations about financial disclosures.
Posted by , Jan 03, 2008 2:28PM
OT- I have a political question.
Who's hotter Dennis K's wife or Fred Thompson's?
Posted by i am a huge tool , Jan 03, 2008 2:32PM
"The cute sounding spokeswoman for Merrill"
Posted by Anominous , Jan 03, 2008 3:05PM
Dennis K's--not even debatable.
Posted by 2:28 , Jan 03, 2008 3:09PM
For real? It's not just the accent and tongue stud?
Fred's wife looks like an absolute whore.
Posted by Anominous , Jan 03, 2008 3:17PM
they don't hurt....
do a google image search for "mrs. kucinich".
Posted by HAM'05 , Jan 03, 2008 3:27PM
what the eff have you been smoking
id rather a whore than ms. k homie. ginger kids smell, everyone knows that
Posted by The Astrologist Fund, Inc , Jan 03, 2008 3:39PM
It was cloudy last night; sorry we couldn't see this one either.
Posted by The Apologist , Jan 03, 2008 4:21PM
"Layoffs" is a bad word. I like "right-sizing".
Posted by ha! , Jan 03, 2008 4:24PM
that is MUCH more generous than what some other banks gave....not to be specific but one in particular that may sound like Rare Burns
Posted by former analyst , Jan 03, 2008 4:48PM
I was packed off around Christmas w/ just 3 mos. base and nada bonus...the addl. 25k seems generous.
Posted by , Jan 03, 2008 4:49PM
I'm with HAM'05 on this one. Mrs. T is 10x hotter than Mrs. K.
Pasty gingers are scary.
Posted by , Jan 03, 2008 5:03PM
It sucks mostly from the MD perspective. 3 mos base plus $25 is nothing compared with working. For an analyst its a decent portion of a years comp.
Posted by chopped , Jan 03, 2008 7:43PM
it sucks from every perspective. I was cut today. VP my bonus last year was north of 350k. I was given 4 months severance and 25k. I was in ficc but NOT cdos or sales. Its bullsht. If we all new earlier cuts were coming we would have looked even earlier. There was no communication even to the 10+ people I know that were cut - if we left earlier there could have been money out there for us. You guys who are speaking up here have no fking clue. 25k is a slap in the face to do one week before bonus numbers are due to come out.
Posted by , Jan 03, 2008 8:59PM
umm..that's the point of cuts - you're not supposed to know in advance.. what would the point be?
Posted by Stano Kneel , Jan 03, 2008 9:10PM
That's not the point, at least not the main point.
Posted by johnny banker , Jan 03, 2008 9:53PM
Chopped, it SUCKS at any level to be laid off. I wonder if your 4 months severance was based upon the number of years you've been at Merrill.
@8:59. A friend of mine from UBS was given 6 weeks notice of being laid off, so it does matter. She had a job pretty much lined up after her stint at UBS ended.
Posted by layoff bonuses , Jan 03, 2008 10:29PM
In FICC, at a place that sounds like Dolman Vanley they had an October layoff round, a friend was given 2 months severance and 50k bonus....
Some places are more generous but doubt they will be in their next round...
Posted by just me , Jan 04, 2008 7:20AM
Ummm....how come nobody seems to remember that folks who make money, consistently, never get laid off? oh right, every trader ar ML deserves millions for showing up sober....
.
Posted by Chopped2 , Jan 04, 2008 7:53AM
To CHOPPED:
so what area were you in or what are the others being affected?
also,
so what was your base?
Posted by Chopped3 , Jan 04, 2008 9:21AM
Heard cash CDO guys in trading & structuring got the worst of it in first round at ML. I am surprised they were still there in 08. Any news from sales? There are quite a few of these retards warming up the seats over there.
Posted by Johnny banker , Jan 04, 2008 10:00AM
@Just me....
I've met traders, MDs who make millions consistently, who have been let go. Why? office politics.
Posted by difficult year , Jan 04, 2008 10:37AM
Million is not enough to save job. at least 10 millions for VP next year for a job without any bonus
Posted by , Jan 04, 2008 10:44AM
ficc = ??
fixed income...?
Posted by x , Jan 04, 2008 10:59AM
Re: Newbie/Rookie?s if moneymakers get fired....Answer: YES.
Reason: Ego is reason for 25% of fires. Anywhere from not brown-nosing, to having a hot wife, to being a threat. Stan Oneal fired 15 people for ego alone.
ps, some censorship here: I posted a tip on suing re: severance...and it did not make it. Is this web site scared of advertisers???????
Posted by , Jan 04, 2008 11:01AM
FICC = Fixed Income, Currency, Commodities
Posted by , Jan 04, 2008 11:11AM
Funny how everyone preaches libertarian, no holes bared, free market capitalism... until it starts impacting them. You want security join a union and go work for the post office. In the real world you work at the will of your employer. Simple as that. If they were stupid for firing you, the market will recognize it fast and pick you up.
A related comment: I'm guessing that the panic I hear in the post at 7:43 is because this guy made base + $350 but was spending like he was gonna make that and more this year and into the future. Not a good way to run your life. Or more likely to have your wife and kids run that kind of life for you.
Posted by Trumper , Jan 04, 2008 11:21AM
11:11am
true you are, however he sounds like a 1st Yr VP....who generally blow that on a Rolex, 911 or worse an overpriced cookie cutter Condo on West Side Highway developments.
Dang, it used to be you banked every bonus till you had $1M cash.....then maybe you bought a base 3 series.
Now the mini-ballers like to give it all up on bottle service, marquis cards, and $50K summer rentals!!!!!!!
Dont worry your heads off. I have seen dudes come back from doing M&A @ Commerzbank and get hired at ML, MS, etc. When the market comes back they will take anyone from street rejects, to big 4, to bankers in rehab.
Enjoy your freedom! Just say you are a consultant to the babes...they cant tell the difference b/w the mail room or board room these days....
Posted by , Jan 04, 2008 11:32AM
@11:21 Better than consultant: Tell em "I manage my family's money"
Posted by Trumper , Jan 04, 2008 11:36AM
11:32, yeah I heard that too..
Attracts the gold-diggers
ps, as a side note the folks who had jobs after 2001 layoffs, were making $200K all in from Assoc to MD. Commerzbank was paying double that :-)
Posted by , Jan 04, 2008 11:39AM
Whats with the dissing Commerzbank? I know I could look it up, but wasnt Wasserstein there in the 90's?
Posted by , Jan 04, 2008 11:40AM
he was at Dresdner
Posted by just me , Jan 04, 2008 12:42PM
Its been my experience that most laid off folks fail to recoqnize that their pal who "makes millions" really doesnt, and that the employees contribution is significantly below their fully loaded cost. Plus most sales people blow anyways and deserve to be fired.
Posted by gurantees , Jan 04, 2008 3:21PM
Wall St. all in all is a pretty shitty career....unless your work on gurantees: plenty made it thru '95, '98, '01, 07
Anyone who doesn't job-trade up to a new job for promote to Assoc, VP, Dir, MD with said gaurantees is a buffoon.
Min. you are safe for 8yrs (1 guarantee, 1 benefit of doubt) and there is little due diligence as most time you get an offer they are not calling your current employer to check if you brought in that $10M fee. They are romancing you.
Know 1000s that play this game and are cooling their heels someplace still collecting $500K/yr 9-5, b/c of their 10yr tenure on Wall St.
Wise up, cash up, lock down, and punch out b-4 its too late..........
Posted by , Jan 04, 2008 3:43PM
A shitty career???? Where do all those people work that live on Park Avenue, summer in EH? Either on Wall Street, or in the law and real estate firms that feed it. The trick is to play the game correctly, but as you point out even the loosers don't do that badly. I don't understand whats bad here.
And as far as the work being hard, you guys are all wrong. Working in a mine, building a bridge in 0 degree weather, a slaughterhouse, dog food factory. Thats hard.
Posted by ...... , Jan 04, 2008 4:17PM
Come back and talk to us in 10yrs.
Go read forbes 400...majority Park/EH/orange county made it in Real Estate or inheritance. There is a source sort filter on online version.
Most Park Ave Boards would turn down the generic Wall St MD....esp. if he is Jewish
Posted by ...... , Jan 04, 2008 4:18PM
Come back and talk to us in 10yrs.
Go read forbes 400...majority Park/EH/orange county made it in Real Estate or inheritance. There is a source sort filter on online version.
Most Park Ave Boards would turn down the generic Wall St MD....esp. if he is Jewish
Posted by , Jan 04, 2008 4:29PM
I meant Park Av figuratively, not literally. (Schwartzman BTW lives at 740 Park). I know lots of people who work in financial services in one form or another that occupy some very very pricy coops in the best nabes of NYC (including Park Ave - Schwartzman BTW lives at 740 - is he Presbyterian?). Bottom line is that you can earn big bucks working on "Wall Street", with no big downside. The value proposition is there.
Posted by ........... , Jan 04, 2008 4:44PM
4:29, I'm not a communist and agree full-hog that Wall St is easy money.
Just dont be deluded into thinking all of NYC rich is Wall St....plenty of rich folks from landlords, garmentos, book/art dealers and even dry cleaner chains. 900 Park Ave @ 79 has 3 top floors owned by some Mexican who is never there
Posted by lucas , Jan 05, 2008 11:06AM
so what is the difference between an associates bonus and a vps bonus? are the bases much different for anyone or similar and it all depends on bonus?
Posted by Fixed_Income_QuantDeveloper_at_ML , Jan 05, 2008 10:20PM
$145,000 base 180k bonus - Canned Thursday :(
Posted by , Jan 06, 2008 7:32AM
145K +180K is a good package to be a quant...
Posted by , Jan 06, 2008 4:57PM
Boo Hoo!
Selling loads of debt to people who couldn't afford to pay it back?
4 months and $25k is 4 months and $25k more than if you screwed up in a real job.
If there were any justice you'd have to give the $350k back as well, now your employer is writing down $bns.
Posted by anon , Jan 06, 2008 9:26PM
145K +180K for vp is not that great... must be assoc.
non-cdo related people are being chopped too, chopped for other people's mistakes, people who already made it big last couple years...
Posted by a9emous , Jan 06, 2008 9:27PM
heard Monday is Bloodbath II Day
please update us.
Posted by , Jan 07, 2008 12:05AM
@4:44 on 1/4 I know that all NY rich didnt make their money on Wall Street. And I don't think WS is easy money. My point is simply this: lost in this pity party here is the fact that WS offers an opportunity for great material success without having to invest any capital like the alternatives you mention (garment, real estate, art galleries). On WS, you show up and if you produce, you prosper. If you don't produce you're shown the door. If you loose money you're also shown the door and YOU DONT HAVE TO PAY BACK WHAT YOU LOST. Hence my observation that the value proposition is there. You cant loose. You either win or break even. So stop crying everyone.
Posted by ...... , Jan 07, 2008 6:43PM
1/7/08 @12:05
You fail to account for your own time-value.
Trust me, many a Street veteran looks back and says OK, i gave up my twenties for this????????
Thats a cost: social life, marriage, mental-health, etc
I know salt-mines are worse....
Just comparing to other white collar.
The main risk is your time. Spend it well.
Posted by , Jan 07, 2008 7:34PM
More BS from ...... 1) The poor bankers who worked late in thier 20s got in return a fat salary, dinner money, a car ride home. What is it they missed? Maybe the opportunity to play even more video games with their roommates? Anyway, 2) Who doesnt work a lot of hours in their 20s. Bankers just get paid more. Plus the work isnt particulary hard - a lot of it is in fact face time. I repeat, Wall Street is a value proposition without peer. Heads you win, tails you break even.
Posted by , Jan 07, 2008 9:21PM
@6:43 Lawyers, CPA's, physicians, dentists, its all a grind. Teachers have less hours but many more frustrations. How about working for a non profit or NYC. A whole other set of frustrations. Work just sucks generally, so you might as well make a lot of money.
Posted by , Jan 08, 2008 9:22PM
I'm working at ML now. I heard that some people got canned without any severance in FICC. Is this true? How many, how many more, what areas other than sales, cdos, structured products? Bonus is communicated tomorrow, does anyone know what % decline we should expect. Very disappointing given that I worked 150% harder in 2007 than 2006. Can't believe Thain is distributing pain to all FICC units, as if we ever got to share in the upside (i.e. structured products' gains).
Posted by anon , Jan 10, 2008 12:24AM
80pct less bonus from last year.
Posted by , Jan 11, 2008 10:36AM
about 60% lower fro your expectation
Posted by SoonTobeOutOfHere , Jan 12, 2008 9:32AM
Got my # past week. Not good. Very disappointing. 75% cut. Just cldn't believe it. Arse wholes.
Posted by Downfrom200k , Jan 12, 2008 8:03PM
wasnt it $50k flat for most people?
plus wasnt 2006's bonus too good and above average?
Posted by $ , Jan 30, 2008 12:13PM
7:34 you sound like a douche bag.
Video games & face time & free ride home.
Wow, i guess its beats Idaho