Thread regarding Morgan Stanley layoffs

I just got an offer from Morgan Stanley. NYC. They are just changing the guards.

Morgan Stanley will go on and thrive. They are still hiring. They have a new direction planned, for those of you laid off, you just weren’t part of the plan.

Never stay at job more than 5 years. Always be looking. This isn’t your grandpa’s economy, staying at the same company for more than a few years is dangerous nowadays. Deal with it.

Remember, you’re all on borrowed time. The coming economic crash is going to bankrupt the middle class in America. There are only two classes, haves and the have nots. If you have to work, you’re a ‘have not’ and will never get out of debt slave status.

My advice, sell everything, get rid of all debt, especially mortgage debt and realize this country is circling the drain. The American dream is a lie. You know this now if you are jobless and have debt.

The housing market is going to fall when all the baby boomers can’t sell their homes, get out now before 2021.

You’ve been warned.

You do realize it’s like this everywhere in corporate America.... layoffs are part of life. Been there, done that. Always have a year’s savings on hand (aka a f#ck you fund) and live way below your means.

And yeah, what comes around goes around. Stay positive.

I worked at another company before I started working at Morgan and the way they handled less profiting Times is by making sure that the top level folks get no pay hike for next 3 years and no bonus as well. While the bottom feeders are still happy. These are the people who actually put their hands on the keyboards to get things done. If you are already earning close to or more than millions that your “needs” are already complete. And “wants” we’re not complete for Any king of the world.
That is something I’d like this current ceo and upper chain to follow.
This cutting jobs and getting higher than earlier years bonus is not digestible. Their should be some level of accountability.

Seems that the poster forgot that she lives in the US, where the system is employment at will. And anyone can be fired at any moment. And when the large Wall St cut, they will fire you no matter how hard you word, if they decided to eliminate that particular role. I suggest to always be ready, have the resume ready, go to interviews ocassionally, than put all your eggs (metaphorically speaking) into 1 basket.

"The above sounds as if you are some one from Morgan Stanley attempting to conduct damage control. The damage has been done. MS's reputation on he street is tarnished, period."

I am not from MS "doing damage control". I am just a regular person who changed jobs many times (and is not afraid of it), and was laid off a couple of times, and I am puzzled by this naive view of these companies as if they are charities or relatives who will appreciate your dedication to them and will just keep you during a major layoff. I don't think there will be any damage to the MS reputation because they have layoffs every year and had bigger ones in 2012 and 2008. Goldman cut big time also after the financial crisis. BNY Mellon had huge cuts in the past 2 years. Read their thread on this forum. For any large company any regular employee, and even a manager, is expendable. They hire people by the thousands and any time they see a possible financial strain, downside by the thousands.

So, so, so wrong to the person who quoted "poorly managed teams" as the reasons for my husband's layoff. If you only know of which you speak. My husband and his people are consummate professionals. You sounds like another person from Morgan Stanley attempting to conduct damage control. Far too late: the company's rep is trashed on the Street and rightly so.

And oh yes ... the company did indeed mandate the weekends, midnights, et al. If my husband had not responded quickly and accurately and pleasantly to these constant demands, he would have been laid off a long time ago. It is the unwritten law of Morgan Stanley: give you blood or else. No amount of spinning can negate the truth.

I am returning to my normal life now so that;s it from me for now to those who are tying to cover up this latest of many unwarranted bloodbaths at Morgan Stanley. Instead of laying off the traders engaged in fraudulent activity or cutting the bloated salaries of the top execs, they chose to take out their mistakes and their greed on the people who worked the hardest and gave their all.

It is sad your husband lost job but being harsh to the company is not fair, it is business at the end of the day and have to make money. The company does not enforce working weekends and nights and in my opinion, only poorly managed/organised teams work late hours or weekends. I do manage very large team and no one in my team work weekend or late hours. Hope your husband will find better opportunity, in general, the golden days with banking is over and more of these will follow across banking industry in the coming years. We should accept the reality and move on with life.

From another poster:

"In fact, my husband gave everything he had to this company except the blood in his veins."

He should ask himself why was he so attached to one company?

After all, MS, GS and many other Wall St companies routinely lay off people. There were dozens of layoffs in the past few years. And if your husband is an expert in his field I am sure and I hope can find as good or a better job somewhere else. The financial services sector is the most capitalistic there is. Saying "I gave my all to the company so they should lay off someone else" is not realistic. They give the senior managers the cut projection and ask them to cut, so whoever his manager was most likely selected him among others, if he/she could select. Depends on the situation.

From me:

The above sounds as if you are some one from Morgan Stanley attempting to conduct damage control. The damage has been done. MS's reputation on he street is tarnished, period.

The firm has now laid off multiple people in my husband's already bare bones department – just this past month alone. This is going to trickle down to MS's bottom line. They now are left, in my husband's, with a skeleton crew. When projects cannot be completed accurately and on schedule,
when the company is left with limted skills staff, Morgan Stanley will turn around and hire large numbers of consultants who, in many cases, lack the skill sets and institutional knowledge that has been lost with these layoffs. So, Morgan Stanley will continue down its landslide.

Yes, layoffs happen. Of course they do. And ... as for realistic expectations, it was sure as shootin' realistic to expect the firm not to lay people off just before Christmas – but MS, again, has a big rep for doing this, year after year. And yes, it was realistic to expect some degree of loyalty to employees who went way above and beyond because of their personal integrity and business ethics.

"In fact, my husband gave everything he had to this company except the blood in his veins."

He should ask himself why was he so attached to one company?

After all, MS, GS and many other Wall St companies routinely lay off people. There were dozens of layoffs in the past few years. And if your husband is an expert in his field I am sure and I hope can find as good or a better job somewhere else. The financial services sector is the most capitalistic there is. Saying "I gave my all to the company so they should lay off someone else" is not realistic. They give the senior managers the cut projection and ask them to cut, so whoever his manager was most likely selected him among others, if he/she could select. Depends on the situation.

I was let go from a VP position yesterday as well. So many weekends, so many long nights. All for nothing.

Thank you to the person who just mentioned how the CEOs get their 7% increase while the people who work their butts off get canned. While I cannot return here to reply to every post, I will simply address those who are giving my original post a thumbs down:

Thank you!

This means that my words hit home and trust me, they are going to keep hitting you where you live.

You are either at the top of the food chain in Morgan Stanley and realizing that you are on the endangered species list, so to speak (hey, word on the Street is that this firm is inhuman and completely illogical) or ...

You are HR, trying to contain the mess that you contributed to. Instant karma, all right!!

I always failed to understand why they would let a dedicated employee go and give 7 % raise to CEO who is earning 30-40 Millon $..

If the reason for their cuts is looming economic slowdown isn't their responsibility also towards their employees who will be impacted more by it.

Why cant every one take a pay cut and work towards weathering the storm

Thank you for your kind words. I'm sorry this happened to you, too. And I truly do believe in karma. I have seen it happen time and time and time again. John Lennon was right. Best of luck to you!

Your husband was not alone. I was let go from a VP position yesterday. They eliminated my position to save money. I do not feel that bad though because I knew this was coming. Back in Aug 2019, one of the Morgan executive said it during a townhall that NY will shrink by 25% by March 2020. So here it is. To some extent I felt relieved and free. I think it's a blessing in disguise. Hard working people like your husband and others who are laid off should work at a place where they are valued and not treated like herd of cattle. Good luck!!!