The Relationship between Wall Street Financial Crisis and American College Students

The financial turmoil has made the employment situation of American college students bleak.

At present, the financial tsunami on Wall Street is rapidly coming, and some people even call it a "once-in-a-century" financial crisis. When Wall Street was in a panic, the dreams of Wall Street elites who were shrouded in wealth seemed to be ruthlessly shattered overnight.

The peak of layoffs is coming.

A Chinese who has been trading on Wall Street for nearly 20 years told reporters that the current situation is quite grim. Judging from the hundred-year history of Wall Street that I know, this atmosphere is similar to the horrible atmosphere of large-scale bankruptcy of financial companies prevailing on Wall Street in 1929.

The Wall Street person said that there was such a classic scene that was widely reported by major media: 15 In September, on the eve of Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy filing, the whole company was brightly lit, and employees rummaged through the cabinets all night, even copying customer contact information to prepare for the next wave of job hunting. Everyone knows each other. Some managers and traders are still busy working overtime, liquidating bankruptcy and preparing complicated account lists. It is reported that Lehman Brothers has 25,000 employees worldwide and13,000 employees in new york. Now, with the acquisition of part of Lehman Brothers' business by Barclays Bank, 65,438+00,000 employees will be re-employed. Nomura Securities "saved" more than 5,000 employees after winning Lehman Brothers' Asian franchise and European business in one fell swoop. But inevitably, a group of Wall Street workers will lose their jobs. A headhunting company on Wall Street said that based on the allocation of US$ 2.5 billion by Barclays Bank of the United Kingdom for possible dismissal and re-employment expenses, it is predicted that it may lay off up to 5,000 people in the purchased business department.

Because the process of financial restructuring of Wall Street has not been completed, the real peak of layoffs has not really arrived, and it is estimated that after the end of the year, the peak of layoffs will follow.

The risk of layoffs is everywhere.

It is generally believed that Wall Street people affected by the financial turmoil are financial institutions that have declared bankruptcy and been annexed, but this is not the case. Bank of America is the winner of Merrill Lynch acquisition. However, when the reporter interviewed Ms. Jacklin, the vice president in charge of sales in the interest rate department of Bank of America in June 10, she told the reporter that she had just been laid off by the company last night. She clearly remembers that the person in charge of the company had a face-to-face conversation with her and then submitted a written notice, so she was easily abandoned by the company she had served for six years.

High flyers, a Singaporean who graduated from Columbia University with an MBA in finance, told reporters with deep feelings that the current financial turmoil is so terrible that the whole Wall Street doesn't feel very good. In the past, people in the industry hoped to get a generous "bonus" or "bonus" at the end of the year, but now it seems that this extravagant hope is gone forever, and the era of profiteering on Wall Street is gone. The seriousness of the problem is that not only people like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch feel pressure, but even Bank of America, which bought Merrill Lynch, almost fell into panic. My colleagues at Bank of America are very scared, and everyone is very upset. It is clear to all that after the merger of Merrill Lynch, the main and new resources will be integrated and staffed between the two companies. Many of Merrill Lynch's businesses are in the original company, and Merrill Lynch is doing better in some aspects. Therefore, in the new organizational structure, there must be competition between the employees of the original two companies. Even Bank of America employees are worried. Although mass layoffs have not yet begun, people are worried about their jobs. It can be said that everyone feels insecure.

Ms. Jacklin told reporters that from a big perspective, the process of layoffs depends on the progress of internal integration of financial institutions. From a specific point of view, the process of layoffs depends on the situation of various departments within the company. Even if I am lucky enough to be left by the company in the future, the "dividend" at the end of the year cannot be the same as before. It is worth pointing out that due to the financial turmoil, customers don't want to do too much business, because if they do too much, the losses will be greater. Customers don't trade easily, and banks are too cautious to trust customers easily. Without the transaction, neither the customer nor the bank can make money. Some people on Wall Street are considering leaving new york to seek development elsewhere. Most people take it one step at a time, and it is difficult to make long-term plans. They just hope that the situation will not get worse next year. She said that I personally don't feel particularly painful because I am psychologically prepared for the current situation. To a large extent, almost everyone on Wall Street is psychologically prepared now. Everyone knows that they may be laid off at any time, so they are prepared to leave at any time. There is no doubt that after layoffs, it will have a great impact on a person's life and some expenses will have to be reduced. For the time being, we can't think too much about spending on cars, holidays, etc. We should be careful about all our daily consumption and save as much as possible. Of course, they will not fall into poverty, because Wall Street people will always have some savings after working for some years, and they will always get some financial subsidies from the company when they are laid off. Of course, "Bank of America" has limited subsidies for employees, and it is not as generous as some other financial institutions.

Middle and senior managers have also been laid off.

Mr Jacky, who worked in Lehman Brothers for many years, told reporters that he was lucky to leave Lehman Brothers in August 2007, otherwise it would be miserable now. He told reporters that the financial situation facing Wall Street now is quite grim. After a series of stormy waves, as long as there is any trouble in the financial market, it will bring people waves of panic and turmoil.

Jacky said that some of his former colleagues at Lehman were middle and senior management elites, but now they have suffered heavy losses. Jacky analysis, for these middle and senior managers, their losses include two aspects. On the one hand, middle and senior managers on Wall Street used to earn a lot of money. However, although they are rich, 70-80% of their income is stock awards, not cash. Now, because these companies are deeply involved in the financial crisis, their stocks have plummeted, making them lose all their money, which is a disaster for many people. On the other hand, these middle and senior employees with high positions and low positions may often become the focus of layoffs. This is because the merged financial institutions have serious duplication in some management settings. In order to reduce the company's operating costs, it is inevitable to lay off a large number of employees, including those institutions that have fallen heavily. In addition, after being laid off, new young people can quickly transfer to this industry, and these middle-aged people who have been on Wall Street for many years will have a hard time.

Jacky analyzed that for young people who are new to Lehman, their loss is to lose their jobs, so their biggest concern is whether they can keep their jobs. Lehman10.2 million to10.5 million, and now it is necessary to lay off 5,000 people at one time. The situation is very serious. Moreover, it is estimated that there will be a massive wave of layoffs on Wall Street after 65438+February. This is because, legally speaking, according to the bankruptcy law of the United States, all employees of Lehman will be laid off, but in practice, Barclays, which acquired Lehman, signed a three-month temporary contract with Lehman, and used this time to make necessary integration, temporarily providing temporary posts for Lehman employees and paying them the salary of 65438+February 3 1 this year. Bank of America, which bought Merrill Lynch, also said it would try to cut expenses, which also meant a large number of layoffs. It is reported that Merrill Lynch will lay off 65,438+00,000 people. Because for investment banks, the only cost is manpower, not human brain. Unlike other industrial sectors, it does not need raw materials and other costs. All transactions of investment banks rely on relationships and make money through people's activities.

Jacky analyzed that the Chinese staff on Wall Street may have a greater influence, because in the Chinese circle on Wall Street, there are very few people engaged in core business in the investment banking department, and most of them are basic positions, such as analysts and data processing. This part of the job is the place where most people are laid off. According to informed sources, Lehman Brothers alone has more than 2,000 China employees, some of whom also hold a large number of company shares, and their assets were wiped out overnight. The financial crisis even made some China employees face the crisis of losing their legal immigration status. According to American lawyers, more than 20 China people working on Wall Street asked about their identities by phone or email. However, Jacky analyzed that it cannot be simply said that there is racial discrimination in layoffs on Wall Street, which is different from what happened before. In the past, layoffs were carried out individually, but now they will be laid off in the whole department, and the repeated departments after the merger will definitely lay off employees. Therefore, the scale of layoffs will be very large, which will have a vicious negative impact on new york society.

The financial turmoil hit college graduates.

When the reporter interviewed steve chen, the executive director of Merrill Lynch, who is in charge of global bond products, he told the reporter that although Merrill Lynch retained its name and organization after the acquisition and its original business was still going on, it was scary from top to bottom, after all, because in the future, I don't know who will be laid off one after another, and the current financial turmoil has broken the Wall Street dream of college graduates. He said that in the past, high flyers, an intern at Merrill Lynch, usually realized his Wall Street dream. The students who are internship at Merrill Lynch this year have not heard the call of signing a contract with Merrill Lynch so far, and I am afraid there is no hope in the future.

It is reported that a few years ago, when some students from famous universities graduated, they decided to "melt" into Wall Street, no matter what their original major was. At that time, it was definitely a wise choice. At that time, the American stock market was bullish and Wall Street was prosperous, and the major banks were undoubtedly hot at the campus job fairs in the United States. The generous treatment and internship opportunities provided by big-name companies on Wall Street are irresistible, and the smartest people in the United States have a long way to go to enter the financial industry. Some lucky people entered the internship of Lehman Brothers during the summer vacation and successfully signed up as a financial analyst after the internship. In the introduction of printing related majors in some famous universities, the reporter is still proud that his students can practice in financial companies such as Lehman, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch, and enter Wall Street after graduation.

However, the financial turmoil on Wall Street in 2008 changed all this. Nowadays, it is difficult for famous students to enter Wall Street. The financial crisis has really dealt a heavy blow to the already weak American job market. This year, the financial sector has cut 654.38+10,000 jobs. According to the estimation of headhunting companies, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch will add another 50,000 jobs. The financial crisis has also affected the employment of college graduates all over the United States, especially those famous universities. In the past, famous universities funneled graduates to famous financial companies such as Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and nearly one-third of graduates entered Wall Street every year. But now, this ratio has shrunk by half, and financial giants such as Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have even cancelled campus recruitment plans. Ronald M. Shi Lamu, a professor of finance at Columbia University Business School, told reporters that after the financial turmoil, American students will carefully re-examine their choice of finance major. For China students, the problem is not too big, because they will return to China for development in the future, because China's financial industry still needs great development in the future.