It's a good question for sure and I've been thinking about it because I recently made a lateral move and joined a new group, so I'm "low man on the totem pole" and all that. 

But, having said that, you just gotta work your ass off. Working scared about losing your job is NO WAY to live your life - it becomes one of those "manifest destiny" things. You gotta go in there every day and just do the best job you can and show them that you're the best one of the team and that you belong there. The day I start running scared is the day my work quality suffers, so I simply don't do that. 

 

On the ground level, the real scare isn't about the layoffs. It's about the new rise in rescinding offers. But most of us here are safely employed, so I'll leave it there.

In finance, we might see some layoffs from all the overbanking in WF or North Western (they deserve it, we all agree. Coming from AMPF, hard F for NWM), but for straight IB/PE/HF etc I don't think so. We need our kinds of people right now to be able to say "you do need to cut these people, because you need that money for these people" so these businesses survive and thrive. Sure there may be some cuts, but that's the facts of life regardless of what kind of point in a cycle we're in.

The poster formerly known as theAudiophile. Just turned up to 11, like the stereo.
 

Came into IB knowing that it is an cyclical industry and layoffs happen at times. So of all the things that stress me about this job, frankly what market forces might dictate the bank to do is not one of them (if this gets so bad that AN/ASOs get laid off, there are larger issues at play). 

My thought process is to try my best to learn and work hard without burning out and save 40%+ of net income each year to have a nice nest egg. If I do get laid off, chill at home or a cheaper place for 6m - 1yr and ride out the storm while the market recovers. Beyond that, I can't control much more so no point spending the days freaking out at every doom & gloom article! 

 

Lol at the comment saying work hard to avoid layoffs

in the event of layoffs, that won’t matter. Unprofitable segments or business units will be what gets slashed, indiscriminate of ability. If you’re an identified rockstar/future leader then yes, you’ll likely find a safe harbor somewhere. But if that’s not your natural state then busting your ass to reach that level being driven not by internal ambition but because of fear of getting fired will lead you to a miserable, pathetic little life

You’re far better off keeping some coals in the fire, keeping skills somewhat relevant, and having a 6 month emergency fund. 6 months is an eternity if you’re unemployed, so just realize if you lose your job it’s not a huge deal and there will be plenty of landing spots for you. The higher up you go the harder it is to switch, especially if you want similar income, but you will always be ok long run 

as the saying goes, man will spend more time worrying about what bad things might happen than time fixing the current problems in their own life. Shit in life happens. Have a financial cushion and don’t lose sleep over it

 
MonkeyNoise

Lol at the comment saying work hard to avoid layoffs

in the event of layoffs, that won't matter. Unprofitable segments or business units will be what gets slashed, indiscriminate of ability.

If you work hard and do your best every day then you would never be an unprofitable segment. If I have to explain that to you then you are simply not working hard enough. Get you act together, son. 

 

Not really. Think about the IB groups that pitches endlessly but doesn’t  do very many deals. Or the fund whose analysts constantly study the markets but didn’t see some major event (ex. Covid) happening and had poor returns. Hard work doesn’t imply success. 

Array
 

lol wow one of the most naive takes i have seen on wso in recent months, even including all the high schoolers that post on this forum. even more hilarious you refer to the poster as "son" as if you are imparting some wisdom. man, i did not know business was that simple where hard work was the only direct correlation with profitability. 

 
Most Helpful

Everyone who works at skybridge and ARK

Undercapitalized banks (banking crises occur when banks cost of capital rises above their yield on debt, and since banks lent an assload during ZIRP, this could be more than benign)

Not sure of the terminology/names of groups but I see potential mayhem coming in leveraged loans and junk bonds, liquidity has dried up as has dealmaking, not good for going into a recession

anyone who's doing capital markets activity for cash flow negative saas companies and other junky tech shit

private credit shops that just started and haven't ran through a crisis before like oaktree

commercial real estate investment teams if inflation stays high 

esg

Anyone who listened to Jim rogers when he said go long russia

people who rely on active mortgage securitization markets or anyone in mortgage industry really

in short, I don't think this will be a bad recession for most Americans, they've gotten plenty beat up bc of globalization, but times have been way too good since 2013 or so for me to believe there won't be   hell to pay for areas of finance that threw caution to the wind, nothing like 2008 though

 

I run the FP&A department at my company and just did a reforecast for 2H22. We are slowing down hiring but don't plan any layoffs. If shit hits the fan (we don't anticipate it will) then may have to reassess but it's not looking that way. 2023 might be a different story.

Array
 

My boss was at his BSchool reunion within the last few months and shared that all his banker buddies (a lot of BB and MM banks) said layoffs were coming over the next 6-8 months unless things turned around materially and that a lot of the PE/HF guys are in a hiring freeze. My firm's hiring actually interestingly enough, must suck to be someone who's bottom bucket and low on the totem pole in times like these though.

"The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly" - Robert A. Wilson | "If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

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