Hundreds of Bank Employees Are Being Let Go Quick
Hundreds of Silicon Valley bank employees are being let go quick, per Axios.
First Citizens Bancshares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) on Wednesday laid off nearly 500 Silicon Valley Bank employees.
According to an email sent this morning to all employees by First Citizens CEO Frank Holding Jr., none of the eliminated position were “client facing,” nor were they India-based support staff.
A source also says the layoffs represent less than 3% of First Citizens’ total workforce, according to Axios.
Holding Jr. wrote the following statement:
“Given the challenges faced by SVB in early 2023, it is increasingly clear that we must make decisions to right-size our scope and scale to remain competitive.”
“As a result, we are taking difficult but necessary actions to ensure that our workforce and costs are appropriate for a bank our size. That means that some members of our team will be transitioning out of the business effective today.”
Additionally, a number of top-level executives and bankers left for roles at other companies.
PitchBook reported this month that nearly 80 senior bankers have been poached from SVB by companies like HSBC, Stifel, Moelis and Company, and JPMorgan Chase.
Related: Morgan Stanley CEO Steps Down in Middle of Banking Meltdown
Morgan Stanley Announces Mass Layoffs
Morgan Stanley announced 3,000 job roles will be cut in second round of layoffs earlier this month.
The bank joins peers like Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, all of which have announced layoffs thanks to a dismal forecast for corporate deals and IPOs this year.
Citigroup is cutting hundreds of jobs across the company, with the Wall Street giant’s investment banking division among those affected.
The cuts amount to less than 1% of Citigroup’s 240,000-person workforce, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing personnel information.
Staffers across the firm’s operations and technology organization and US mortgage-underwriting arm are also among those affected.
A spokeswoman for Citigroup declined to comment.
The move comes just weeks after rival JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut hundreds of mortgage employees.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., for its part, embarked on one of its biggest rounds of job cuts ever in January when it planned to eliminate thousands of positions across the company.
“The banking sector is really going through it right now. As the industry still gets used to the new landscape without regional bank First Republic in it, Morgan Stanley has become the latest to confirm more mass layoffs.
As the economy lags and talk of a recession grows, deal volume has been way down, which is hurting some banks despite stellar earnings,” says Forbes.
Related: JPMorgan Is Freezing Customer Bank Accounts in New Scandal
Big Banks Are Also Closing Several More Branches
Big banks such as Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) are going to close several more branches.
In Philadelphia, Wells Fargo has closed 17% of its local bank branches since 2020.
PNC is not far behind, shuttering 15% of its branches in the Philadelphia area, per the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Bank of America has also followed suit, closing 5% of its physical locations in the region, as well.
Big banks are closing branches in New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Washington, D.C., Illinois, and Michigan, as well as out west in Nevada, California, and Arizona, per The Street.
According to the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Bureau (FDIC), large commercial U.S. banking locations have fallen from 8,000 in 2000 to 4,236 by 2021 and 4,194 by 2022.
The spider web of U.S. branch bank offices tied to big banks has slid significantly, as well.
“US banks closed 149 branches and opened 49 in March, resulting in a total of 78,588 active branches,” S&P Global Market Intelligence data reported on April 28, 2023.
If the trend of current bank branch closings continues there may be no bank branches left in 10 years.
Self Financial estimates the number of U.S. bank branches will fall from about 60,000 in 2023 to approximately 15,660 in 2030 – and continue falling until there are no bank branches left by 2034.
Related: New Study Shows Nearly 190 Banks on Verge of Collapsing
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