Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007
A minute's Silence Please... fnrrr!
Evening Standard: Bankers' bloodbath as Canary Wharf cull sees up to 1,000 lose their jobs
Up to 1,000 bankers paid between £100,000 and £1 million are to lose their jobs at Canary Wharf. It is part of a worldwide cull ordered at Citigroup, the world's biggest bank. None of the 9,000 staff based in London know yet who will be sacked.
Posted by pendulum @ 07:41 PM (200 views) Add Comment
12 Comments
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1. sovietuk said...
"Citigroup already employs 19,000 people in India and is geared up to take on lots of extra people there."
I wonder if this has anything to do with the cost and hassle of employing peope in the UK ??????????
2. Scott said...
Sovietuk is correct, again. Assume house prices and rents go up 50% in the UK in the next 3 years. Therefore, wages would also need to do the same. Not sustainable. An Asian friend of mine knows of many Asians and Eastern Europeans that are going home.
3. talking rot said...
I know schadenfreude is not an appropriate feeling in this godforsaken politically-correct period in the UK but .... who cares! It's a bunch of bankers being sacked! Maybe their sky-high bonuses will not longer pump up property prices in the UK. Maybe I'll be able to afford that des-res cardboard box before I grow a second hole in my bum.
4. harold said...
The first of many such shocks coming the City's way. Lets hope all these parasites, sorry, bankers, bought for cash (which they probably did) ;-)
5. Shipbuilder said...
Ah, capitalism at its finest....nothing actually wrong at Citibank, but a billionaire Saudi Prince isn't making enough money, so with a quick phone call and a click of the fingers, 17,000 jobs are gone....
6. royston said...
Sorry to spoil the schadenfreude guys, but I was recently talking to someone I know who is high up in Citibank and it's not the £100k+ people that are getting canned. It's the £15k to £30k back office and admin staff whose jobs are going to India. I don't see this having much impact on the property market.
7. paul said...
royston, that's not true.
Charlie Prince has been looking to slim the wages bill and relocate services. I've said before that this is why bank offices have revolving doors - they'll boot you out as quickly as they usher you in.
8. paul said...
I noticed this article in tonight's Evening Standard. On the same page, there was a story, sponsored by the property section, about FTBs "beating" the house price boom by ... yes you guessed ... buying overpriced property!
And I had a Diana moment. I can only describe this feeling according to what I felt the day Diana died, and all that was splashed over the early morning papers was the exclusive zoom lens piccys of Diana and Dodi on his yacht. At that moment I understood how sometimes unknowingly, the media can bring two stories together, seemingly unrelated to unintentionally bring about a stark new perspective.
I had one of those moments when I saw the headline about Citigroup and FTBs "beating" the house price boom. In years to come, this headline will be seen as the beginning of the end I feel for the UK's property boom. After all, who cares about the wages bill if you're doing so well as the banks have been?
Or is it that the outlook for the thinly capitalised, heavily leveraged mortgage market less than rosy?
They are smart people. Citigroup knows something the rest of us don't yet.
9. japanese uncle said...
Charlie Prince, another excellent candidate for Hammer films 'The revenge of Dracula', without any need for make-up at all. Does any red blood running through in his veins, or 'blue blood' maybe.
10. Ephraimbubbleblower said...
In an economy that is otherwise ticking along nicely, these sorts of stories are probably good news for the housing market. The employees will all get a hefty payoff and most will find jobs again fairly swiftly. Only in a genuinely weakening economy (where these types of announcements occur more regularly) does it potentially signal bad news for housing. Unfortunately for us bears, this is just an issue specific to Citigroup not a precursor to wider problems (yet).
11. paul said...
This is him:
Ephraim, when the largest bank in the world (or so some might say) sheds 17,000 jobs, it's significant.
12. p. o. o. r said...
So I guess this is going to mean that a lot of these 500 - 1000 people are going to be in trouble when they lose their jobs and can't keep up the repayments on their 5* salary mortgages - OK, so they will be OK for a few months as I am sure they will get good payoffs. If the same happens with Barclays, and it would not surprise me to watch other banks make large reductions, there will be a lot of competition for the jobs thar are available - Am I glad I am not a city banker - or should I say !!***!$$ :-)