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Most jobs would go, and the payroll was not protected - with the next pay cheque due this Friday.
(FT.com)

5000 London mortgages to become 'distressed'? (And Lehman employs 25 thousand people globally... what's the size of the hit in Manhattan?)

Like the Enron critters, many of these people had large portions of their savings in Lehman shares.

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 07:05:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't think most of the people at Canary Wharf were ordinary working stiffs, and with entry level salaries of £45k and a notoriously flat and entrepreneurial structure I'm finding it hard to be completely sympathetic.

These people always had the choice to do something useful with their lives. But no - they decided to follow the herd and work in the City.

How many companies have these idiots bankrupted? How many little people have they put out of work by concentrating on profit at the expense of social context? How much damage have they done to the international economy?

It was a Lehman VP who helped put the final nails in the coffin of de-regulation.

I hope they spend some time in the real world, grow up and get proper jobs doing something useful.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 07:19:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Let me tell you what I want Santa to bring ME for Christmas.

i.e. that'll be the day.

In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 07:22:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
What, they pay cleaners and secretaries £45k? I'm very tempted to ask what constitutes a proper job ...
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 07:24:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Why not ignore the substantive part of the post to try to score an imaginary cheap point?

Do you really think those proverbial cleaners and secretaries aren't going to be able find new jobs in a city with millions of businesses?

How about the cleaners and secretaries in the companies which the City has put under over the last twenty five years? Does working outside of Canary Wharf mean they don't get a sympathy vote?

Bah.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 07:44:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]
And there's me thinking we'd been decrying the destruction of those jobs for ages here. It doesn't mean we should be jumping up and down with joy at the destruction of other jobs. Do we get to hate everyone who works for a bank?
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 07:48:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]
This is really excessive, Colman. No one is jumping up and down for joy or hating.

I think this has now become a thread hi-jack ! :-)

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:06:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]
...Because a company like Lehman will be keeping cleaners on its corporate payroll, and not subcontracting the work to a diversified service company with contracts throughout Canary Wharf and the City?

Not really, no.

You're looking in the wrong place. The temps will move on, the cleaners will be redeployed (as the phrase goes) one way or another.

It's the PAs and IT people who will have a harder time finding new work after this.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:12:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]
It's the PAs and IT people who will have a harder time finding new work after this.

And they're a suitable target for Schadenfreude.

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:15:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]
And they're a suitable target for Schadenfreude.

Don't knock schadenfreude:  It's about the only kind of freude we get these days.  

We should laugh now, while we can.  We have long predicted this moment, and long known what follows:  It does not end with the lay-offs of 4000 drones.  

The Fates are kind.

by Gaianne on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:29:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Actually, I was expecting to see a lot of schadenfreude in the London free commuter press (like there was when Bear crashed), but I find very little - mostly shock.

The "drones" had it coming, but the ones that won't be out of a job are these people.

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:33:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]
No, we had not forgotten about that.  

The Fates are kind.
by Gaianne on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:38:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]
How many people did Lehman have at VP level? a couple hundred?

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 07:35:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm trying to figure out how many of the three words apply to me, for instance.

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 07:37:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Never "ordinary".

paul spencer
by paul spencer (spencerinthegorge AT yahoo DOT com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 12:45:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Actually, what useful things were they to do, given the dominance of the financial sector in London? Where were the good honest jobs that they could have taken?
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 07:40:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]
In London you can work in Legal or financial services, hairdressers, restaurants, real estate agents, teaching, the Met and the NHS.

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 07:43:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]
There's also engineering and consultancy out at the edges, here and there. Occasionally it looks like real industry.

Ofxord and Cambridge have research parks.

No one is forced to live or work in London. The UK does have an economy of sorts elsewhere too.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 07:47:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]
What? I thought the point being pushed by you, among others, was precisely that the whole UK economy was pretty much shoehorned into London and that prospects elsewhere were borderline. Suddenly this isn't true?
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 07:57:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]
It's true if you're willing to accept challenging and useful work which doesn't promise city-sized bonus packages.

That seems to have been a personal sacrifice too far for too many people.

So - here we are.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:17:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Um, for a year I didn't get any offers of challenging and useful work which doesn't promise city-sized bonus packages.

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:22:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]
There's some of that, but remember that chart Jerome had of government spending across the UK under Blair (think it was from the FT).  A lot of what was going on out in the Provinces revealed quite a bit of weakness in the private economy.  I think everything from the Midlands up had pretty much stagnated if you deducted the government's contribution.

Which isn't a bad thing.  Gotta put people to work.  But I think most of the private-sector stuff is in the South generally and Southeast in particular.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:41:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]
A quote from our Anglo Disease piece below:

European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

In the UK, where the sector's share of GDP rose to 9.4% in 2006, from 5.5% in 2001, City-dominated London received 50% of total foreign investment. Per capita Gross Valued Added rose by between 8% and 9% over the last decade in London while, in all other regions of the UK, it stagnated or fell.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:53:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yep, and if you take out the hairdressers, restaurant workers, teachers and doctors, you're left with the people who can actually afford to live anywhere near London.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:36:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]
By "the Met," do you mean the cops?  If so, add that to my list of people to take out.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:42:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm not terribly sympathetic, but obviously not everybody down at the Wharf or in the City is apart of the criminally insane peddler culture (just most of them).

I have more sympathy for the neighborhood financial planner-types, whose jobs actually involve working for normal people, than I do for the ones on the trading floors.

And, yes, GBP45k is a lot of money.  Hell, that's an entry-level salary of more than most people will ever see.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:33:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]
they were part of a scam?  

Like the Enron critters, many of these people had large portions of their savings in Lehman shares.

I mean, you don't shit where you eat, and--more to the point--you don't eat where you shit.  

Much learning to occur in the next few months!  

The Fates are kind.

by Gaianne on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:19:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm just now wondering what fraction of the "bonus packages" was deferred compensation in the form of Lehman shares...

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:21:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Like working for the Mafia!  

Maybe worse.  

The Fates are kind.

by Gaianne on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:35:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Well if you're buying and selling worthless junk then you're at least a willing footsoldier in the mob.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 08:44:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Canada.com: Bankruptcy filing leaves Lehman Brothers employees confused, angry (September 15, 2008)
They said they had each lost about $50,000 in cash they had invested in Lehman's now nearly worthless stock.

"I'm young enough to bounce back," Ruiz-Mata said optimistically.

"Who I really feel for are the people who've been with the company for many, many years, and who've been getting paid much of their compensation in stock. Those folks face losing fortunes."

Again, just like the Enron critters

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Sep 16th, 2008 at 09:08:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Like the Enron critters, many of these people had large portions of their savings in Lehman shares.

Somebody forgot to tell those unfortunates that working many years for one company and having one's life savings in the company's stock is probably not a good diversification strategy.

Well, none of them could have anticipated that the company would go under. After all, they only worked at an investment firm.

Getting laid off, and seeing your retirement money disappear on the same day: priceless.

 

by Ralph on Wed Sep 17th, 2008 at 09:51:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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