Axe falls in last 2 days on those in the equity, fixed income and energy units
By Gabriel Chen 22 October 2008
AT LEAST 20 Singapore employees of investment bank Merrill Lynch have been laid off in the past two days.
The layoffs were met with anger, tears and some confusion among the ranks of 700 or so employees at its Marina Bay offices.
About 10 members of the equity team were axed on Monday - that is about 25 per cent of the unit’s workforce. Sources say that around the same number from the fixed income desk and several from the energy trading team were told to leave yesterday.
A banker told The Straits Times that he was told to go on Monday after being asked to see human resources in the morning.
‘It still comes as a surprise to me, as I thought I would be asked to go only next month,’ he said.
He has also lost out on his Merrill stock. A contractual arrangement arising from Bank of America’s takeover of Merrill last month meant shares granted to him had to be ‘bought back’ by the bank.
But Merrill shares have plunged by over 70 per cent since their peak last year so he is taking home much less.
The average severance package across the board is about three weeks’ pay for each year of service, he said.
The banker said before he left yesterday: ‘You’re seeing half-empty offices and morale is certainly not good.
‘A lady who went into the room after me came out with her eyes red, tears rolling down her face. Some of the senior folk didn’t even pack their belongings. They stormed out.’
One senior banker said to have been retrenched on Monday was Mr Mark Bowden, head of equities in Singapore.
He apparently came in as usual and was ‘ready to do the lunchtime presentation’, but never turned up.
‘Mark Bowden has already left the company,’ said the operator when The Straits Times called Merrill yesterday.
The lunch briefing was taken instead by Mr Yasuhiro Fujiwara, who heads the Pacific Rim equities desk.
‘He said that they’re done with job cuts for the year,’ said a banker who heard about the talk from his colleagues. ‘But can you really be sure about that?’
Merrill in Singapore declined to comment on the job cuts.
The axe has also fallen on Singaporeans based in Merrill’s Hong Kong office.
‘It has been a long day,’ said a 28-year-old Hong Kong-based fixed income banker who received her letter yesterday morning.
‘I’ll have to sort out my rent,’ she said, as she ponders how to manage the HK$15,000 (S$2,860) she pays every month for her high-end apartment.
‘Maybe I’ll move in with a friend. If I don’t find a job within the next two months, I think I’ll move back to Singapore.’
The Merrill layoffs have sent a chill around the Raffles Place banking zone, with executives discussing the bleak job climate and how global banks are whittling down staff and cutting operations.
At UBS Singapore, two employees from commodities have been asked to go, while the investment banking team has seen reductions, sources say.
‘The Asia-Pacific generally, and Singapore specifically, remain key and growing markets for UBS. Against this background, the headcount reductions are small. We also continue to hire selectively,’ UBS told The Straits Times yesterday.
1 comment:
20 Merrill Staff Here Let Go
Axe falls in last 2 days on those in the equity, fixed income and energy units
By Gabriel Chen
22 October 2008
AT LEAST 20 Singapore employees of investment bank Merrill Lynch have been laid off in the past two days.
The layoffs were met with anger, tears and some confusion among the ranks of 700 or so employees at its Marina Bay offices.
About 10 members of the equity team were axed on Monday - that is about 25 per cent of the unit’s workforce. Sources say that around the same number from the fixed income desk and several from the energy trading team were told to leave yesterday.
A banker told The Straits Times that he was told to go on Monday after being asked to see human resources in the morning.
‘It still comes as a surprise to me, as I thought I would be asked to go only next month,’ he said.
He has also lost out on his Merrill stock. A contractual arrangement arising from Bank of America’s takeover of Merrill last month meant shares granted to him had to be ‘bought back’ by the bank.
But Merrill shares have plunged by over 70 per cent since their peak last year so he is taking home much less.
The average severance package across the board is about three weeks’ pay for each year of service, he said.
The banker said before he left yesterday: ‘You’re seeing half-empty offices and morale is certainly not good.
‘A lady who went into the room after me came out with her eyes red, tears rolling down her face. Some of the senior folk didn’t even pack their belongings. They stormed out.’
One senior banker said to have been retrenched on Monday was Mr Mark Bowden, head of equities in Singapore.
He apparently came in as usual and was ‘ready to do the lunchtime presentation’, but never turned up.
‘Mark Bowden has already left the company,’ said the operator when The Straits Times called Merrill yesterday.
The lunch briefing was taken instead by Mr Yasuhiro Fujiwara, who heads the Pacific Rim equities desk.
‘He said that they’re done with job cuts for the year,’ said a banker who heard about the talk from his colleagues. ‘But can you really be sure about that?’
Merrill in Singapore declined to comment on the job cuts.
The axe has also fallen on Singaporeans based in Merrill’s Hong Kong office.
‘It has been a long day,’ said a 28-year-old Hong Kong-based fixed income banker who received her letter yesterday morning.
‘I’ll have to sort out my rent,’ she said, as she ponders how to manage the HK$15,000 (S$2,860) she pays every month for her high-end apartment.
‘Maybe I’ll move in with a friend. If I don’t find a job within the next two months, I think I’ll move back to Singapore.’
The Merrill layoffs have sent a chill around the Raffles Place banking zone, with executives discussing the bleak job climate and how global banks are whittling down staff and cutting operations.
At UBS Singapore, two employees from commodities have been asked to go, while the investment banking team has seen reductions, sources say.
‘The Asia-Pacific generally, and Singapore specifically, remain key and growing markets for UBS. Against this background, the headcount reductions are small. We also continue to hire selectively,’ UBS told The Straits Times yesterday.
Post a Comment