From Boom to Doom & Gloom

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For research and educational purposes. http://nypost.com/news/10839.htm The party may be over for Wall Street.

The ax man is headed for as many as 20,000 jobs on The Street because of the current consolidation craze, and plunging tech-stock values have would-be entrepreneurs logging off of dot-com ventures for more traditional jobs.

"The Internet gold rush is over," said Alice O'Rourke, executive director of the New York New Media Association, a not-for-profit organization that promotes Silicon Alley ventures.

And the days of a booming Wall Street job market are also apparently over - market sources are estimating 4,000 to 15,000 layoffs could result from Chase Manhattan Bank's acquisition of J.P. Morgan & Co.

Sources close to Chase and Morgan said the top estimates were too high, but declined to provide their own figures.

If, as expected, the cuts hit hardest in the bond and foreign-exchange areas, those laid off will have a tough time finding work, experts said.

"It will be very hard for most of those people to find a job due to overlap in the industry," predicted Michael Karp, managing partner at the recruitment firm Options Group.

Up to another 2,700 may lose their jobs as a result of Credit Suisse First Boston's purchase of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, the buyer said.

The two deals are just the latest in a wave of painful mergers.

From 1995 through the middle of last year, financial institutions were responsible for four times as many merger-related job cuts - 100,000 - than any other industry, according to the outplacement firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Meanwhile, the dipping tech-stock values on Nasdaq has sent some of the most promising business beginners running from Internet jobs.

"Students have become more cautious and thoughtful," said Steven Pollock, president of WetFeet.com, a Web site that monitors business trends.

They recently released a study that found only 18 percent of business students are now interested in working at an Internet company right out of school. Most are looking for jobs in management consulting or investment banking, which hold out the promise of job security and training.

Columbia Business School graduate Josh Green, 26, who launched a record label and Web site, dirtymedia.com, from his studio apartment, is going to work at accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"It's going to be a hard adjustment, but it will be worth it," said Green. "I don't have the stomach for the ups and the downs of the Internet world."

One Columbia grad who asked not be identified has opted for a job at a top consulting firm despite a $2 million offer from backers to launch his own startup.

"I don't know any incredible dot-com success stories," the 29-year-old said.

-- (perry@ofuzzy1.com), September 18, 2000

Answers


A while back Bank of America dumped 10,000 mid-level staff.
And now J.P. Morgan / Chase Manhattan will dump 4000 to 15000 people.
Wow! it looks like some rough times ahead for those in the banking industry looking for decent salaries. They will be competing with their bosses boss who has more experience and needs to pay off his mortgage too.
Next you'll be hearing the banking folks say they can't get any help and need to import help from over seas via the h-1b visa.

-- (perry@ofuzzy1.com), September 18, 2000.

Ya'll shouldn't get too exercised about this. After the stock market collapse in the 1980's, the number of layoffs in the Wall Street financial houses was much bigger than these. And, all these people came back stronger than ever.

-- Buck (bigbuck@trailways.net), September 18, 2000.

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