Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Aerospace & Defense
Investing Simplified
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Campaign Polling
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
Nicholas Wapshott
Bethany McLean
Anatole Kaletsky
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Reihan Salam
Frederick Kempe
Christopher Papagianis
Mark Leonard
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Counterparties: Today's Best Links
AIG CEO: America should thank us
AIG's outspoken CEO thinks his company deserves respect for its turnaround. And despite AIG's $182 billion bailout, he's no fan of government's "free lunch." Read more at Counterparties
How believable is Greg Smith?
The uncertain importance of uncertainty
Get Counterparties by email!
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Obama on attack in foreign policy debate, but Romney steady
|
10:25am EDT
Italian court ruling sends chill through science community
22 Oct 2012
Apple set to unwrap mini-iPad to take on Amazon, Google
|
11:29am EDT
"Horses and bayonets" becomes latest debate catchphrase
|
10:27am EDT
Obama, Romney battle over foreign policy
22 Oct 2012
Discussed
176
Obama gets second chance in debate rematch with Romney
118
Obama talks Libya and Biden’s swimsuit on ”Daily Show”
90
As other polls show tight race, Gallup stands apart
Sponsored Links
Gadgets add complexity to brutal bank layoffs
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Insight: Chicago Fed warned on high-frequency trading
Mon, Oct 1 2012
UK seeks to mend "broken" Libor, not scrap it
Fri, Sep 28 2012
Analysis & Opinion
Wall Street pay: Headed up or down?
Kill switches may be too difficult to implement despite new call by CFTC member, expert says
Related Topics
Investing Simplified »
Tech »
Media »
By Sarah White
LONDON |
Tue Oct 23, 2012 8:55am EDT
LONDON (Reuters) - In the high-tech, gadget-addicted world of investment banking, layoffs are becoming more complex and brutal as firms try to stop sensitive data leaving with employees.
Sackings are usually swift, with bankers escorted out, a few belongings thrown into boxes and Blackberries and phones disabled the minute they get their marching orders.
But weeks of trawling through old emails and planning software lockdowns now precede and follow the job cuts that are happening in thousands, adding a new layer of indignity to the process.
"It used to be that you would take away any access to the building and maybe prevent someone from lifting their Rolodex," said Stephen Bonner, a former Barclays executive now a partner in the information protection business at consultancy KPMG.
"Now there is extensive compliance, with for example reviews of the last six months of email activity, for signs of a large amount of material being sent to personal accounts."
Companies have to make sure they can block access to work systems that employees may be using on their own computers, while occasionally calling in lawyers to ask fired staff to destroy data they may have already downloaded.
The crackdown has taken on new relevance after a series of banking scandals such as the rigging of Libor interest rates. Records of emails and voice mails underpinned a case by regulators against Barclays for manipulating Libor, which was settled in June.
Layoffs in banking have long been a particularly brutal affair, justified by firms because of the sensitive information handled by deal advisers and traders.
Anecdotes abound about the half-eaten sandwiches left behind by colleagues called to a meeting with their manager and human resources, never to return. Those allowed to collect their belongings often do so with a security escort.
More bankers are likely to get a taste of the dismissal procedures in the coming months as economic woes hurt revenue.
Deutsche Bank and Nomura have been among those shrinking headcount again recently, with layoffs at major players adding up to well over 130,000 since 2011.
PRACTICE RUN
With hundreds of bankers sometimes leaving on the same day in big redundancy rounds, the huge IT operations take meticulous planning, sometimes with unnerving consequences for staff.
One analyst laid off last year along with his team said their Blackberries stopped working for 15 minutes a week before they were unexpectedly laid off. In retrospect they believed it had been a practice run.
"That made us feel a bit sick," the former analyst said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
But recurring incidents of data theft, and other breaches and scandals mean banks will likely only step up their checks.
"I've never yet run one investigation during a round of redundancies where we haven't found things that were concerning for the company," Bonner at KPMG said.
A former Goldman Sachs computer programmer was recently charged with stealing a high-frequency trading code from the firm before leaving for a job at a start-up.
Systems sweeps can extend to looking for signs of downloads onto memory sticks in the months before an employee's departure.
Banks store valuable client data in relationship management systems for example, listing intimate details of their every transaction, which junior bankers could try to take with them.
While preventing these breaches is not always possible, banks will notify each other if they believe former employees have taken data they were not entitled to and collaborate between firms, Bonner said.
As in other industries, there is also the risk that a disgruntled, fired employee will return to his desk and send off angry company-wide emails -- but worse can happen too.
A computer programmer at U.S. mortgage association Fannie Mae was convicted in 2010 for planting a computer virus designed to destroy all the data on its servers the day he was fired.
WEDDED TO GADGETS
Most bankers do leave on good terms, however -- usually a condition to getting a generous redundancy payout.
But although many concede big packages are the trade-off for working in such a cut-throat world, the impersonal format of layoffs is still tough, and dependence on technology such as Blackberries has made things worse.
Being suddenly cut off from the systems so many are wedded to can exacerbate the feelings of worthlessness and bereavement people experience during redundancy, psychologists say.
"People are handed these gadgets and tools...and it becomes entrenched in their way of being," said Michael Sinclair of the City Psychology Group. "It's what they do at night times, and it's about 'who am I'."
The lack of a human connection in banking redundancies can add to the problem, he said, as does the stigma attached to seeking counseling, which can be seen as a weakness.
But the large scale of redundancies at banks and their frequency, correlated to cycles of rising and falling markets, make it unlikely they will be handled any differently, despite efforts to give employees and managers more training to cope since the 2008 financial crisis.
"The only other way in is the more personal way, and I don't know how one could do that," said Kirsty Tifft from The Career Psychologist, who previously worked in finance, including at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch.
"Once you go down that route, you have to invest a lot of time. When hundreds of people leave on the same day, it's hard to see how that could be managed."
(Editing by Anna Willard)
Investing Simplified
Tech
Media
Related Quotes and News
Company
Price
Related News
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.