Challenger's monthly layoff tally shows that the sharp decline in financial sector job cuts in August appears now to have been the calm before the storm. The buyout of Merrill Lynch and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers demonstrate just how fragile the sector remains.
Although London's Barclays retained 10,000 Lehman workers (this Bloomerg report says that figure may be cut in half), and Nomura, a Japanese investment bank took over three foreign units saving more than 4,000 jobs, the remainder of the 20,000+ workers will most likely be looking for new employ.
The financial sector has already shed nearly 103,000 workers so far this year, according to Challenger's total.
Quote From CEO John Challenger: "Financial firms announced just
2,182 job cuts in August, offering some hope that the turmoil was coming to an end. A year-end spike in financial cuts, ignited by these latest actions,
could send 2008 job cuts in the sector past the 2007 record total of
153,105."
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