Wachovia was rumored to have begun laying off employees in its Charlotte investment bank yesterday afternoon, and apparently the cannings have spilled over into today. What’s taking so long? The only explanation we can come up with is that, having heard about Goldman and its ante-upping approach to firings, the higher-ups at WB realize they needed to get creative if they’re ever going to crack the top five in Layoff League Tables. According to someone familiar with the proceedings, the head of IB sent out an email this morning saying that “if you are there after 4:30, you are okay.” And if you’re asked to go investigate a suspicious noise, or lose your virginity during the film? Not okay! Oh, and severance is supposedly 4-5 months salary plus full bonus.
Earlier: Layoffs Watch ’08: Wachovia

Comments (52)

  1. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 3:53 PM

    i think the real question is what ddoes a “full bonus” amount to?

  2. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 3:53 PM

    i think the real question is what ddoes a “full bonus” amount to?

  3. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 3:53 PM

    i think the real question is what ddoes a “full bonus” amount to?

  4. Posted by MF | June 19, 2008 at 3:54 PM

    Bonus = one loaf of bread and a cowbell.

  5. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 3:59 PM

    4-5 months plus full bonus??? There goes their dividend..

  6. Posted by FUNdamental | June 19, 2008 at 4:07 PM

    @mf – but guys, I’m tellin you, you’re gonna want that cowbell!

  7. Posted by Judson_Clark | June 19, 2008 at 4:08 PM

    That is utter bullsh*t. I was laid off by Wachovia back in December for the AGE acquisition, and all we got was 3 months salary!

  8. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 4:10 PM

    so WB’s severance is better than GS? sad, sad.

  9. Posted by CNote | June 19, 2008 at 4:10 PM

    @3:53: The real question is what’s with the Parkinson’s twitch on your mouse-click finger?
    Their bonus is going to be a foreclosed house in Cali. That way they can lay off tens of thousands…

  10. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 4:14 PM

    This sucks for the competent people that kept their jobs now they have to split the bonus with the dead wood.

  11. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 4:18 PM

    yes dumbass thats how layoffs work.

  12. Posted by MF | June 19, 2008 at 4:28 PM

    guest @4:14 There are no competent people at Wachovia… Cashier jobs are not that hard to fill.

  13. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 4:36 PM

    @4:14 -
    Odds are that someone truly competent is the one generating cash and sharing his bonus check with you. Or, are you one of those masters of the universe who print money?
    Try not being so much of an ass. It might just be that you were one of the survivors because they see you as such a human potted plant that you would be dumb enough to work all year just to get fucked out of a 12 month bonus.

  14. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 4:38 PM

    4-5 months is extremely generous compared with the rest of Wall Street layoffs.

  15. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 4:53 PM

    Is it really accurate to call Wachovia an investment bank? Isn’t it more of a regional savings and loan w/ a small group of rednecks that dabbles in stealing business from the real I-Banks?

  16. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 4:55 PM

    guest @4:14
    With VERY few exceptions, on the Street you are a commodity, not a talent. Don’t kid yourself thinking you survived because you are more competent or talented then the ones who didn’t survive.
    On second thought, go ahead and kid yourself. Make sure you remind everyone on the desk how damned competent you are and how fucking unfair it is for someone of your immense greatness to be asked to share his bonus check with a lesser life form such as one of the incompetents who got laid off.

  17. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 4:55 PM

    It’s a bloody murda!
    - Merger & Acquisition (& Divesture) Investment Banking Analyst
    wow, the last word in my signature line removes all meaning from 15 that come before it (*shoots self*)

  18. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 4:56 PM

    It’s a bloody murda!
    - Merger & Acquisitions (& Divesture) Investment Banking Analyst
    wow, the last word in my signature line removes all meaning from 15 that come before it (*shoots self*)

  19. Posted by rgolden | June 19, 2008 at 5:05 PM

    I think the salary & bonus should come directly from managements checking account, they are the ones that put the Co. in the dich. They should get it out with their money not ours.

  20. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 5:12 PM

    Too long, didn’t read.

  21. Posted by jerrydill | June 19, 2008 at 5:14 PM

    Wow! This package isn’t bad. I bet the bonus isn’t great, though

  22. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 5:19 PM

    Thats right the world of finance doesnt exist outside of NYC–well except for Chicago, London, Hong Kong. etc. etc.
    For those of you wallowing in your own crapulence, I believe Wachovia is a top 5 IB (in terms of underwritting at least).
    I love the smell of fresh hubris in the morning.

  23. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 5:19 PM

    So I’m planning on quitting later this summer…is there a good way of getting “laid off” instead, so I get some severance? Besides not performing, because I’ve done well so far and need good letters from my bosses for grad school…

  24. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 5:27 PM

    @5:19 sure find an MD that is a Tarheels fan and start wearing Duke articles of clothing around him and tell him (coach) Roy Willaims was way over-rated.
    If a Duke fan change the garb to ‘Hell specific and replace Williams with Coach K.

  25. Posted by CNote | June 19, 2008 at 5:41 PM

    @5:19 – just ASK. If they’re looking for headcount, they’d rather do it to someone who wants to go than keep you around, cut staff to a nut-hair’s width, and then have you quit. Tell them you’re considering leaving, and you’ll take a package.

  26. Posted by Anal_yst | June 19, 2008 at 5:46 PM

    @ 5:19
    Make a video, definitely make a video. Exact content is almost unimportant, so long as its posted on the youtubes

  27. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 5:46 PM

    @ 5:19
    Wachovia 2007
    10th in bonds $76bn
    5th in loans 109 bn
    10th HY 5.8 bn
    Did not make list on global equity
    12th US equity 2.6 bn
    Did not make list global M&A
    19th US M&A 65 bn
    Source: Bloomberg
    Not top 5

  28. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 5:46 PM

    In other, much more important news:
    http://gawker.com/tag/prescott-hahn/?i=5017916&t=the-fake-hedgie-whos-conning-new-york-fashionistas
    btw did anyone else notice beyond the ornithology discussion that our man on the lam ‘Keyser Soze’Israel had a gulp, aol email adress on his card? (I’d hesitate to even date a girl with an aol email let alone give money to such a fund manager)
    -CC

  29. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 5:51 PM

    guessing DB did, which is why the headline of their post was “Here’s A Tip-Off You Maybe Shouldn’t Give This Fund Your Money: AOL Address”
    http://dealbreaker.com/2008/06/_bayou_fund_sam_israel.php

  30. Posted by Anal_yst | June 19, 2008 at 5:51 PM

    @ 5:46
    I sent bess that link earlier, kid is a f’in n00b, jesus you know you suck at life when you can’t even FAKE being a hedge fund manager, damn!

  31. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 6:00 PM

    @5:51a Good point…thats what I get for leaving the office at 3pm on a Friday to beat the LIE traffic and missing that headline. (on the plus side I was able to mix up a nice batch of Sangria for the next day).
    -CC

  32. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 6:49 PM

    some of you guys are idiots.. realize that these are real people losing thier jobs.. these are not numbers that you are laughing abt.. also ppl who have just lose their jobs probably dont appreciate ur smart ass comments either..

  33. Posted by CNote | June 19, 2008 at 7:13 PM

    @6:49 Hey there Debbie Downer.
    Wow. You must be tons-o-fun at a party.
    The people who have just lost their jobs just got checks in an amount that it’ll take us half a year to get accrue. I’m not going to cry them a river.

  34. Posted by Cincinnatus C | June 19, 2008 at 7:27 PM

    @5:19 (that wants to get laid off)- start getting all self-righteous about how your read in Barbarians in the Gate about Winston-Salem and Wachovia having started life as the beneficiaries of an industry/economy driven by slave labor.

  35. Posted by Cincinnatus C | June 19, 2008 at 7:28 PM

    @6:49/7:13pm – seriously, we need something to feel better about ourselves. why do you think we come here?

  36. Posted by Old Sneep | June 19, 2008 at 8:06 PM

    As Captain Ellerby said in The Departed, “World needs plenty of bartenders!”

  37. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 8:25 PM

    “Well, the world needs ditchdiggers too”….. How about a Fresca ?

  38. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 10:41 PM

    Let’s be fair folks. Play nice with the kids in the sandbox. Even if they are in the Carolinas.
    WB # 1 in many structured credit areas like CDOs (what used to be) and leveraged stuff. Look it up on your fancy Northern computers.
    Cluzo, the koolaid is green and blue baby.
    Yours Truly,
    BB…errr…really tanned Caucasian Banker

  39. Posted by guest | June 19, 2008 at 10:42 PM

    Erin C, we can settle in the South. Me, you, have a couple kids running around.
    Call me baby.
    Yours Truly,
    BB…errr…really tanned Caucasian Banker

  40. Posted by guest | June 20, 2008 at 12:25 AM

    There’s no clearer way for a commenter to give themselves away as an employee than to refer to their company with an internal acronym…

  41. Posted by guest | June 20, 2008 at 2:48 AM

    WB = ticker, idiot

  42. Posted by guest | June 20, 2008 at 2:48 AM

    WB = ticker, idiot

  43. Posted by guest | June 20, 2008 at 9:10 AM

    WB was NEVER #1 CDO bookrunner my god what is this board coming to? WB moved up to #5 in 2007 after not even top 10 in 2006 … hey great timing there Wachovia bankers

  44. Posted by guest | June 20, 2008 at 10:05 AM

    WB has been #1 in CRE CDOs. I’m too indifferent to look up the league tables though.
    25% of the investment bank was fired, but only analysts got a “full” bonus. Everyone else is obviously on the big boy banker cycle.

  45. Posted by guest | June 20, 2008 at 10:11 AM
  46. Posted by guest | June 20, 2008 at 10:15 AM

    oh sorry wrong one.
    Wachovia was indeed #1 in CRE CDOs, which means nothing since this is classic commercial bank business and a pretty niche business. Was WB also #1 in issuance of WB shares, as well as deposit market share in North Carolina. means nothing.

  47. Posted by guest | June 20, 2008 at 10:33 AM

    Wachovia is pure crap. Half of their Charlotte Investment Bank is UNC grads, I mean what do you expect.

  48. Posted by guest | June 20, 2008 at 10:35 AM
  49. Posted by guest | June 20, 2008 at 10:36 AM

    haha right it definitely requires an ivy league degree to package a cdo.

  50. Posted by Cincinnatus C | June 20, 2008 at 1:29 PM

    seriously – anyone who depicts a UNC grad as too uneducated or otherwise inadequate to do ANYTHING finance-related is a fucking moron.
    - ohio state grad

  51. Posted by guest | June 20, 2008 at 9:09 PM

    defending a bank’s competence by saying it did well in the CDO space is pretty much saying that the bank is really good at losing money.

  52. Posted by guest | September 10, 2008 at 1:11 AM

    If you are looking for a job, go to http://www.PinkSlipMixers.com

Leave a comment

You can log in with your account or comment as a guest below.