Reply to: hsbc - cull starts

[Cirrus]

I walked out as I said. However I subsequently found out that a PM I worked with at Churchill had similarly exited not long after. And so had my ex PMO analyst from Citi. I'm not saying it's at all clever or professional to look gift horses in the mouth but it does show some people have limits when it comes to selling their souls for the big fat dollar, not just me.

[BoggyMcCBoggyFace]

HSBC did have a lot of dead wood contractors particularly in Credit Risk / Market Risk, I'm not saying they all were, but people I had work for me who were rubbish always seemed to turn up there as a contractor or candidates I interviewed and rejected turned up there, so seemed HBSC recruited a lot on the basis of 'just throw people at it' . There seemed to be some kind of exchange programme going on between RBS and HSBC the dead wood that RBS got rid of always turned up as HSBC at some point.

[BrilloPad]

Barclays were notorious for this disgraceful tactic. Many a time gone for lunch and a fellow contractor has been marched off site for nothing more that they are cutting back.

If they pay a notice period, it sounds like a good deal.

[Yonmons]

i suppose a 'phone call is marginally better than security arriving at your desk <which has happened at other banks>.

Barclays were notorious for this disgraceful tactic. Many a time gone for lunch and a fellow contractor has been marched off site for nothing more that they are cutting back.

[uk contractor]

[QUOTE=PermMCCon;2459729] Instead of knee jerk culls, QUOTE] These knee jerk culls are good though as every single time without fail all the IBs copy each other and cull too far & cut too deep (US IBs especially always go way too far & are the slowest to react as so many layers middle management). Lots of perms being let go as well right now. As soon as upper management realise (about 12 months too late usually) they suddenly go on a hiring spree & rates go through the roof...rinse & repeat its been the same for 20 years now in London IBs anyway! I think right now we are in the middle to end of this culling cycle sooner or later they have to reverse & race to the top again.

[Cirrus]

Instead of knee jerk culls, what people in the forum are asking for is "controlled" culls. ie large programme has completed successfully, natural next step is contractor being let go and permies moving on to their next role. and so on again.

I had a nice little run at HSBC.

It looked to me as though (after getting rid of tons of people) they decided they needed now to ramp up again. So they went out and hired train loads of people - not for particular projects but just a huge stock of people for whatever. I went into an empty office in Birmingham and day by day, week by week it filled up. The same thing was happening elsewhere. But I didn't actually have a job. I was just coming in and doing nothing for a month or more. Then I got tacked on to programmes doing bits and pieces. Three such assignments later I walked. Enough was enough. And my boots were well and truly stuffed to the rims.

The point is all this hire-and-fire creates work for us. We are the vultures who circle all the time, feeding off the pickings of corporate disarray. It's not Michelin Star fare but it feeds our excessive lifestyles...

[PermMCCon]

IB is only a small part of HSBC in terms of contractors. It has large amounts of commercial, retail and private banking, in myriad countries.

Ok fine Cirrus.

Lets update it to

"If I got a penny for everytime someone in this forum moaned about big bank contractor culls, I would be a very rich man"

and so on. You know what I meant.

Culls happened before 2008 and (if we are all honest) that much more often since then.

Shame though, I think I know where the forum is coming from:

Instead of knee jerk culls, what people in the forum are asking for is "controlled" culls. ie large programme has completed successfully, natural next step is contractor being let go and permies moving on to their next role. and so on again.

[Cirrus]

If I got a penny for everytime someone in this forum moaned about IB contractor culls, I would be a very rich man.

IB is only a small part of HSBC in terms of contractors. It has large amounts of commercial, retail and private banking, in myriad countries.

[PermMCCon]

Agreed. Plus IB involves commuting. You see the worst side of people. Well 2nd worst. The worst side is people you divorce....

If I got a penny for everytime someone in this forum moaned about IB contractor culls, I would be a very rich man.

Well, I would have £2.43 which will be enough money for me to buy half a cup of coffee in the cantine of an IB office

[BrilloPad]

Agreed. Permiedom means a better safety net, while contracting (in general) means first out of the door. Yes there are exceptions, but that is how it works in general.

Higher rates in IB, no denying that, but it comes with much higher risk and work rates. C'est la vie.

Agreed. Plus IB involves commuting. You see the worst side of people. Well 2nd worst. The worst side is people you divorce....

[PermMCCon]

If it worries you, become a permie.

Though, to be fair, permie at IB is hardly safe....

Agreed. Permiedom means a better safety net, while contracting (in general) means first out of the door. Yes there are exceptions, but that is how it works in general.

Higher rates in IB, no denying that, but it comes with much higher risk and work rates. C'est la vie.

[gables]

That's not news. The movement of RBS IT's department from the UK to India has been on going for years. Even this set of redundancies have been known about for ages..

Indeed, could've sworn I'd seen a headline like that if not 2015 then 2016. It sticks in my head as I thought a guy I'd previously worked with was there and I contacted him, but he wasn't, it was a different bank

[eek]

RBS at it as well now!
Unite union claims RBS plans 900 IT job cuts - BBC News

That's not news. The movement of RBS IT's department from the UK to India has been on going for years. Even this set of redundancies have been known about for ages..

[uk contractor]

RBS at it as well now!
Unite union claims RBS plans 900 IT job cuts - BBC News

[BrilloPad]

The possibility that the next cut could be huge and you are left against hundreds others looking for a new role in your field all at similar pay/skills.

If it worries you, become a permie.

Though, to be fair, permie at IB is hardly safe....