Four top US investment banks have increased staff around the world by more than 10% this year, although headhunters expect cuts amid talk of a US recession.
Staff numbers at Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns have risen by between 10% and 14% in the first three quarters of this year compared with the same period last year, according to research by CIBC World Markets analyst Meredith Whitney.
But there have been more than 4,000 lay-offs announced this year and the banks that hired the most have cut the most. Bear Stearns produced the highest increase in staff this year, up 14% to 15,500 at October 31. However, the bank has said it expects to cut 1,200 jobs.
Merrill Lynch, which has the highest number of employees at 61,900 – a 10% jump over last year – has also announced job cuts, including at sub-prime lender First Franklin. Morgan Stanley, which has the second-highest staff numbers at 47,713, has said it will cut 900 jobs, 600 of which will come from its mortgage units in the US and Europe. The rest of the cuts will be in fixed-income, equities and investment banking. But the group has 7,500 fewer employees this year than last as chief executive John Mack has restructured and cut costs. Gary Goldstein, chief executive of search firm Whitney Group, said banks were likely to cut staff but would boost numbers in growing businesses: “My guess is there will continue to be lay-offs. Firms will downsize in areas that are likely not to be as active and they will hire where they want to be more competitive. The net headcount is not likely to change much – it will just end up shifting.”
Merrill Lynch is the most highly staffed and the least profitable per employee, with each staff member bringing in $42,832 (EU29,156), according to CICB. Goldman Sachs has 29,905 employees, who each bring in $419,629 of pre-tax income.
Each Goldman employee brings in two to three times as much income as employees at rival firms. Each of Morgan Stanley’s 47,713 employees this year accounted for $193,763 in pre-tax income, while each of Lehman’s brought in $166,174.
But search firms agree that high staffing numbers is Wall Street’s way of seizing a business opportunity and downsizing soon after.
Investment banks have been growing through acquisition. Lehman Brothers added 1,200 staff from its purchase of investment group Neuberger Berman and an another 2,200 from those of hedge funds such Crossroads and Lincoln Capital as well as several mortgage companies. Merrill Lynch added 2,800 employees from its acquisition of First Franklin.作者: jhhejian 时间: 2008-2-5 10:54 标题: 回复 1# 的帖子 IB这么强撼啊。
