Deutsche Bank and the incredibly generous redundancy payouts
This may not come as any consolation if you worked at Deutsche and happen to have lost your job just before bonuses were announced, but it seems the bank pays some of the best severance packages around.
Based on headcount reductions over the year, Deutsche's fourth quarter results suggest the average severance payment in the corporate and investment bank during 2008 was €229k (199k).
This compares very handsomely with Goldman, which paid an average of $85k (58k) and Morgan Stanley, which (based on an estimated 5,000 job cuts during 2008) paid an average of $158k (108k).
Deutsche's results go to show that it's best to be let go sooner rather than later. Although payouts were measly in the first quarter, average severance payouts in Q2 were €2.3m, falling to €558k in Q3 and €236k in Q4.
One employment lawyer who works for DB scorns the notion that severance packages are lavish however: "Deutsche are in line with most other banks. The average across the industry is 3-6 months' salary, rising to a year for the longest serving and most senior staff."
