經濟類文章精選：WIELDING THE AXE

14 WIELDING THE AXE

　　Investment banks cut with a vengeance

　　THE 25,000 or so jobs cut by international investment banks so far this year have been presented as judicious pruning, though they were really more panicky than that. Privately, the banks admit that, if business does not pick up soon, then the serious axe-wielding will have to start, on Wall Street and in the City of London. Some banks would have liked to act more aggressively before now, but were restrained by a desire not to be first with the bad news. This week's announcement of 3,500 fresh job losses at Citigroup, followed immediately by reports that J.P. Morgan Chase is about to slash its investment-banking operations, may mark the point at which the blood really starts to flow.

　　As they decide whom to shed, executives face a tricky question. How quickly might they be able to hire workers in the event that business recovers faster than most people now dare hope? Merrill Lynch suffered badly after it fired workers, including technical staff, as financial markets stumbled in late 1998. When the markets rebounded soon after, not only were these workers loth to return, but employees at other firms would not join a firm that had shown itself to be a fickle employer.

　　Today, worries about "doing a Merrill" are fading fast. Jobless investment bankers are legion, though few are willing to admit to being "unemployed". New York now has nearly as many "resting" bankers as actresses, though they do not yet have to wait at tables. Senior executives are being fired at a rate not seen since 1990, says Laura Lofaro of Sterling Resources, a firm of head-hunters. They are paid so much that the revenues they bring in for the firm fall short of their pay--even before other overheads are taken into account.

　　Banks are also eagerly searching out ways to shed workers through increasing use of technology. Curiously, firms like Me

【經濟類文章：WIELDING THE AXE】相關文章：

經濟類學生自我鑒定05-04

獨立學院經濟類數學教與學的探討04-29

香港各大學經濟類MPHIL的申請04-28

經濟類專業(yè)實習報告（精選6篇）12-28

【推薦】經濟類實習報告三篇04-28

談經濟類學校的考研理性選擇04-30

對我影響最大的四本經濟類書05-01

淺談編輯在經濟類報紙中的職責04-30

經典的文章07-02

文章04-29