Is it too easy to make redundancies in the City?

9 September 2008

1 minute read

Is it too easy to make redundancies in the City?

Around this time in the cycle, it's tempting to come over all nationalistic. Just as disreputable immigrants are accused of infiltrating all our leek-picking jobs, it might be said that Britain's soft labour market laws make the City an obvious target for any bank aspiring to shave headcount in Europe.

Yesterday, Reuters reported that Calyon plans to make 1,200 redundancies, mostly in London and New York.

The Dresdner-Commerzbank merger also underscores the issue. Commerz is, admittedly, eliminating 6,500 jobs in Germany, but thanks partly to the country's tortuous labour laws, it won't be chucking anyone working on its home soil out until 2011. At Dresdner Kleinwort in London, by comparison, heads will start rolling after Christmas.

What are these tortuous labour laws? Well, for one thing, employers in Germany have to take social considerations such as an employee's length of service and number of dependentsinto consideration before they can be made redundant. This takes time, and if it's done wrong, associated redundancies are invalid.

Should we do more to protect the jobs of our boyz in the City? Partake of the argument below.

AUTHOReFinancialCareers UK

Insider Comment

Tr
Trader 1
11 September 2008
The fact that it is easier to hire and fire is the reason why the UK and the US are at the centre of finance. Essentially it means that these firms can adapt quickly to changing market conditions in terms of the business they do therefore ensuring maximum revenue.
The end result is that for most, it means that the field of investment banking is no longer a career. For most who succeed in getting the foot in, it then becomes a game of how long one can last. This may be 2 years, 5 years or even 10 years but for alot of people it will not be until retirement.
Those kicked out then have to cope with doing something else which can become challenging as the new role will no doubt be paying anything close nor have the prospects most aspire to when they enter they left university.
My advice is to stick to a proper career path e.g Law
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Jo
John
11 September 2008
Before Henry gets in, I'd like to say:
If you're good, you'll keep your job! Everyone who's lost their job I've met are mediocre to say the least.....
Thank you.
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ts
tstamova
11 September 2008
What's the problem!?
Go with the market... East!
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jo
jop
10 September 2008
"I Know", that won't help convincing European banks not to dump people in their UK offices. A French or German (or Swiss for that matter) bank will always find it a lot easier to dump staff here in London so it might take more than a slight change of attitude to protect UK employees.
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Ia
Ian
9 September 2008
It is not only the redundancies. Continentals have more annual leave, bank holidays and better maternity/paternity arrangements. And they don't travel to work in cattle trains. Not sure that UK's liberal labour market compensates enough for all that.
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