Hundreds of Fleet layoffs expected: Bank of America set to make cuts today

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/08/18/hundreds_of_fleet_layoffs_expected

Bank of America Corp. plans to lay off hundreds of tellers and other branch employees at Fleet banks today, asking them to leave the building immediately as part of the process, according to documents obtained by the Globe and Fleet branch managers told of the decision.

The layoffs will affect nearly every city and town in which Fleet does business, as the North Carolina bank continues to absorb the Boston-based FleetBoston Financial Corp. Bank of America plans to convert Fleet's 1,500 branches to its own model, which for the most part uses fewer full-time staff members per branch, the Fleet workers said.

In addition to the layoffs, Bank of America plans to move some employees from branch to branch and to reduce some staff members' hours. Branch managers learned of the planned cutbacks at a meeting in late July, but staff members are expected to be told today.

One Fleet manager who was informed of the plans put the staffing reductions and relocations at one or more per branch. According to that manager, who asked not to be identified, that means that 1,500 or more employees could be affected by today's personnel moves.

Go Tax Cuts GO!!!!

Jobless "recovery"? - not even!

We're all going to get fat raises this year so we can pay them right off! :eyes: Another Bush, another shitty economy.

:eyes:

Color me unsurprised. :eyes:

But the economy is booming, right??? :eyes:

...so much money on all those commericials during the Olympics. The cost for an add during the Olympics might have saved a few jobs!

who were rather left behind! You know.. going into torn up, depressed neighborhoods and helping those less fortunate!

:crazy:

... were part of their PR campaign to counter the backlash from the layoffs. Thus the timing of the layoffs, after the ads have aired.

Ok, so BoA is out; Citibank is out; where am I supposed to bank?

does NOT charge interest
and so you can pay your mortgage in about ten years.

And you wonder why Muslim financial institutions are under attack....

A Sharia Bank does not (CAN not) charge (or pay) interest. But that doesn't mean you get the money for free. How would they stay in business?


There are a number of financial transactions they can facilitate, but none quite fit the plan you describe. For instance, they can't "finance" your new $20,000 car for 6% interest. What they WILL do is BUY that $20,000 car and SELL it to you for $22,000. Then you can make payments on that $22,000 a 0% interest. This is known as a "murabaha" (trading) transaction and is allowable under Islamic rules.

But you're payments will be the same as if you had financed the car in the "traditional" manner.


Alternatively, they can participate in a "musharaka" or "mudharaba" transaction. Which allows them to put up capital investment in exchange for a proportional share of the proceeds. So (if they offer this for housing) you MIGHT be able to get that really affordable ten-year payment, only to find that you don't really "own" the house at the end. They own a share of the profits (which lately have been several times what the interest WOULD have been). Like a reverse mortgage doesn't cost you ANYTHING now... but you lose the house when you die.

They also don't PAY interest to depositors (not that ANYONE is getting much these days). They share out a portion of the profit from the other deals to the customers. But also the risk. Bad "loans" would mean negative interest on your savings account.


In essence, it's just a shuffling of terminology to grease the wheels of commerce. There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

That's HARSH!

It was similar when they first moved in to Virginia. People having to re-apply for their own jobs or receive notices saying essentially "your position is now part-time. If you want it, these are your new benefits. If not, have a nice life".


BofA truly is the "evil empire". And now, virtually anywhere in the country, you can chose NOT to bank with them. (I don't just say that as a competitor).

It's like a "perp walk" ... not very much fun, to say the least.

Anyone who's not had this treatment is truly fortunate. It's now 'standard practice' by the corporatists. The very second an employee is terminated, (s)he's treated as a trespasser. In many cases, they're not even allowed to stay long enough to pack up their personal belongings. That 'job' is often relegated to a remaining employee.

Welcome to Fascist Corporatism!

I've never seen that level of cold-heartedness.

I have to admit I have a long-standing dislike of that particular bank (and one other similar org.)

I started in college as a P/T teller. Interviewed at two banks on the same day - one of which was a predecessor to the bank in question. Was offered a position with one and accepted. Got an offer from the second the next day for more than 1$/hr more (pretty big difference between $6 and $7.25 to a college student). But I had already accepted an offer and felt honor bound to follow through...

It was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Who know how many heartaches I would have gone through with a company who "cares" about their employees like that???

they are telling us on Thursday if we have a job or not, ugh, hope it's not as harsh.

And what kind of merger is it? (In-network acquision of a larger bank already in your markets? Geographic expansion of a bank NOT in your markets? "Merger of equals"? etc.)

What role/position do you fill?


Best of luck!

Remember if you do get laid off, don't jump too hastily! Bank mergers almost always involve pay-to-stay and/or severance packages that can make waiting to leave very attractive. I've seen some cases where long-time employees just retired early. In the last two acquisitions my bank made (before being acquired itself) we had more people complaining that they were NOT laid off. Don't panic.

shit out of luck. This happened when State Street sold one of its business units to Deutsche Bank, and it's happening at Fleet. I have sold software into both companies for 13 years, and what's happening ain't pretty.

I've been in this business for quite some time and I've been on both sides of the acquisition fence. And, no, I'm not at the "executive level". But banking is unlike many other businesses. They can't just lay off the whole staff on day one. They NEED people to keep the doors open through the transition period and they know they have to pay for that (sometimes through the nose).

Sure, if you want to talk "golden parachutes" and million dollar severance agreements with buyouts of life insurance policies... THAT only happens at the upper levels. And I'm happy to commiserate with those who see the inequity in that.

BUT. Your normal employee in a bank merger is OFTEN taken care of pretty well IF they have some history with the company. I've had some tellers who were able to retire 2-3 years early based on a buyout and plenty of coworkers who had 4-8 months of severance (some over a year - and if you are one of only a few who can do your job and it MUST be done through "date x" there is often extra "consideration" that can be negotiated). The part-time teller in college who has six months with the company isn't going to get much more than the two-week minimum of course, but if you put a lot of sweat equity into the company, you might be surprised at how well things work out.


Now, "how well" is of course relative. Little makes up for the fact that you are losing your job in a market where finding a new one is HARD. But what I'm saying is that it is almost always worth hanging around till the end rather than jumping ship at the first sign of trouble (assuming you have at least a few years of service). Too many people I know hear they are getting laid off (usually MONTHS down the road) and walk out the door to get a new job. Heck, some did it as soon as the buyout was announced and probably wouldn't have BEEN laid off. The transition team doesn't always SAY "be patient and hold on till the end - it's worth it" because they are COUNTING on a certain percentage cutting and running (I KNOW, I've been IN that chair).

I know plenty who have gotten laid off and never knew it was coming. I was blindsided THREE times myself. I love the way you always stick up for corporate interests and paint a rosy glow of our strong economy. Why are you still here anyway? Attempts at indoctrination aren't working. :eyes:

I've been talking specifically about banking.

You said you were in software sales. Obviously it's easy to can people in that industry. Banking is a little different. I'm not sticking up for "corporate interests", I was only talking what I know to be true (and ONLY about banking). If anything, I was "sticking up" for the guy who's worried he might lose his job in the merger. I just nkow too many people who lost out on MONTHS of severance because they bailed out too early.


Here's an example. You're a big bank buying a little bank and you want to close a particular branch. You CAN'T wait until the last minute to fire everyone because the branch needs to stay open until D-Day and you need people to do that. Problem is you are required to inform the customers of the branch MONTHS in advance that you are doing this. You can't hide it from the staff. If they all run you are HOSED. Then there's the operations center down the street. Almost completely duplicative positions and they may ALL be gone on that last day, but you need almost ALL of them right up UNTIL that day (and they know it's coming). How do YOU think they hold on to these folks who know they won't have a job? How do you get them to stay until the day you no longer need them?

Appeal to their "company loyalty"??? Right! That'll work!

Nope, you PAY them. And the more people who listen to posters like YOU and bail because they expect to have NO notice and NO pay??? The more they have to PAY the ones who are left. As I said... I've been in that seat and worked that math. BofA makes ZERO sense to me. In a bank merger, there's almost always somebody getting laid off (we did it better than anyone and there were always at least a few dozen out of work), and it ALWAYS (IMO) pays to treat people with respect. ALWAYS.

BofA deserves whatever they get.

he would still get 40% of the vote

Probably the only way Bush's base would ever not vote for him would be if he was running against Jesus Christ himself.

In Columbus Ohio a couple weeks ago, Techneglas, a subsidiary of Nippon Electric, was abruptly closed and 400 people put out of work, some of whom had worked there for over 20 years. There was no warning. They were simply asked to pack up their stuff and leave. The company makes glass screens for TV sets.

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2004/08/02/daily15.html

"Cheaper rivals" in China and Malaysia were cited as causes of the shutdown.

NEC announced plans to open a plant in Taiwan.

Several Techneglas employees showed up to join the protest at an "Ask President Bush" dog-and-pony show in Columbus on August 9th. The ticketed Republicans walking into the hall we're dressed like they were going to church. Across the street were about 200 people without tickets, most with anti-Bush signs and attitudes. The only suits were worn by Secret Service agents and/or Columbus undercover cops.

One woman whose husband lost his job at Techneglas was talking to a reporter and I recorded her comments:

"I'm here for the people of Techneglas who could not make it. My husband's worked there for 24 years. His entire family has lost their jobs there with everyone else. President Bush is right across the street from us and will not see us and doesn't care that all of us are out here wondering where our next checks are coming from, where we're going to eat, what's going to happen. John Kerry... he cares, he really cares. The mayor met with us earlier and he actually embraced the people and said that he would help us. We have come down here to say that, President Bush, you came for questions and answers but you're not out here to ask our questions and our answers and to help the people who really need help. We really need help. And there's other people who have lost their jobs, and not just Techneglas. In this closure, there were three plants that lost it, and there's no answers. And I ask another question: Mr. Bush, why do you have to be a Republican and a selected Republican to get in to see you? With John Kerry, when I went to see John Kerry, I was not asked if a was a Republican or a Democrat. We were simply given a ticket and John Kerry answered those questions. Our jobs went overseas. My husband and the rest of his family helped pack all their equipment, and sent it to Mexico, and sent it overseas, and that's why we're out of business now, and other companies are out of business now because of that, and we really need a change. We really need to keep our jobs here. I feel sorry for the jobs that have closed down before this--the companies that have closed down. Now I know... I know really what it feels like. You know, where are the school clothes coming from, what about Christmas, what about our house payment. I've already heard some of the people from Techneglas saying, we're going to have to file bankruptcy, both of us lost our jobs. I've seen the tears. And these people are hard workers, very very hard workers. They did everything they could do for that company, to keep it going."

:( Stories like this break my heart. I hate this goddamn economy and administration that is so out of touch with the general public!!! :grr: :grr:

The local Techneglas plant closed adding more long time employees to the unemployment lines in Northeastern PA. We're turning the corner all right.

How demeaning for these folks. That said, I'm sure they knew this was coming.

:kick: