More Mortgage Industry Layoff in the Charlotte Area (credit, how much)

[Carolina Blue]

I don’t want to confuse issues, and I’m not at all trying to make light of the situation. I’m only trying to make the following points…

1) As someone else said, anyone working in a call center, living in any part of the country, should be concerned about their jobs in the immediate future. And that has nothing to do specifically with living in Charlotte or working for Wachovia.

2) To reiterate, Wachovia is “not” laying off 4,000 people between Charlotte and Winston-Salem, which is what BrianH1970 originally said (see below)

Originally Posted by BrianH1970

Wachovia hiring for their mortgage division is a total laugh. They're going to lay off about 4,000 people and cut a billion dollars in salary between Winston Salem and Charlotte later this year...

[snitins]

I am sorry as I do not understand much about this outsourcing stuff. and I am from old school. But just one question arise to my head what will all of you plan to do if god forbid, your job is taken by indians?
And will that be a good idea if we could find jobs in India then?

[Miker2069]

Originally Posted by Yorkiegirl16

The Wachovia restructuring started three years ago. About two years ago, one unit in New Jersey was outsourced to India. Late last spring/early summer we had a meeting where we were informed that our site had the highest turnaround time, highest accuracy and highest volume of all the sites. The end result--our site closed !! We had a choice to either relocate to Charlotte or Birmingham. I, like many others, jumped on the Charlotte bandwagon.

The outsourcing Wachovia is going to do will impact far more than seven jobs. I think we could all agree on that without the need for sarcasm. It's just a heads up to anyone thinking of relocating down here looking for a position in the banking industry. People in my department joke that we were brought down here just to be weeded out.

So, yes we are seeing the steps being taken -the cost-cutting measures and the streamlining in order to stay "competitive". Even if that competitive edge means your job gets eliminated or goes far, far, far away (India). Believe me, they're not spending time and money to eliminate just seven positions. Something big is brewing and when it comes, its going to have a huge effect.

That seems reasonable- pretty much the mortgage lenders, brokers, and related businesses may expect little to a lot of flux as business models are changing (i.e., outsourcing). It's good advice to keep an eye on what's happening in your industry and how it's going to affect you (if you're in it).

[BrianH1970]

Originally Posted by Carolina Blue

So using your logic, since Wachovia is elminating 4,000 "jobs" they must be looking to layoff somewhere of around 200,000 people by the end of the year. Man that will make today’s Citibank announcement seem like small potatoes. (sarcastic voice)

Get rid of the word "jobs" and try calling it functions. Equate it to that. Each function has 'x' amount of employees doing that particular function. This isn't rocket science.

The articles specifically say Winston Salem and Charlotte. I work in the Charlotte building (after having worked in New Jersey). They've already gotten rid of 500-1000 since the start of the initiative. The way those articles are written, it's either 3,000 people at the end of this year or 4,000...all depending on whether or not they count the initial push. I'm not sure.

Let me ask you this: Let's say you're moving down here looking for (hopefully) long term employment. Will you rest easy accepting a position within Wachovia in Charlotte after reading those articles or would you be better advised to explore other companies. And leave the "outsourcing is happening everywhere" out of the equation. Just base everything on what you've read and have been told.

[Carolina Blue]

Originally Posted by BrianH1970

Let me ask you this: Let's say you're moving down here looking for (hopefully) long term employment. Will you rest easy accepting a position within Wachovia in Charlotte after reading those articles or would you be better advised to explore other companies. And leave the "outsourcing is happening everywhere" out of the equation. Just base everything on what you've read and have been told.

I would research "any" company that I intend to work for. In researching Wachovia I would more than likely find out that the company employs "20,000" people in Charlotte. And has a number of divisions here that include such varied business units as Investment Banking, Treasury Services, Real Estate, Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Information Technology and Brokerage, to name a few. I'd also do an online search and see exactly how many jobs the bank has posted on its career search site. I would also research the "city" to see what demand may be like at other companies for my skills. I would also look at the company's historical earnings reports; particularly the most recent ones. By the way, Wachovia releases it's 1st Qrt report this coming Monday. I'm sure you'll be listening to that....I know I will.

At any rate, I've said it once and I'll say it again, anyone in the Call Center industry should be worried about their jobs. This whole "India" mess has been going on for a few years now. This isn't anything new. And its not anything soley that Wachovia employees should be worried about.

[BrianH1970]

Originally Posted by Carolina Blue

I would research "any" company that I intend to work for. In researching Wachovia I would more than likely find out that the company employs "20,000" people in Charlotte. And has a number of divisions here that include such varied business units as Investment Banking, Treasury Services, Real Estate, Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Information Technology and Brokerage, to name a few. I'd also do an online search and see exactly how many jobs the bank has posted on its career search site. I would also research the "city" to see what demand may be like at other companies for my skills. I would also look at the company's historical earnings reports; particularly the most recent ones. By the way, Wachovia releases it's 1st Qrt report this coming Monday. I'm sure you'll be listening to that....I know I will.

At any rate, I've said it once and I'll say it again, anyone in the Call Center industry should be worried about their jobs. This whole "India" mess has been going on for a few years now. This isn't anything new. And its not anything soley that Wachovia employees should be worried about.

How did I know you weren't going to give a straight "yes" or a "no" answer. I'll just take that as a "no, I wouldn't".

Thanks for playing.

[Carolina Blue]

Originally Posted by BrianH1970

Let me ask you this: Let's say you're moving down here looking for (hopefully) long term employment. Will you rest easy accepting a position within Wachovia in Charlotte after reading those articles or would you be better advised to explore other companies. And leave the "outsourcing is happening everywhere" out of the equation. Just base everything on what you've read and have been told.

There is not a "Yes or No" answer to this question above. It depends on what job I'm accepting and it depends on my job skills, my education, etc. If I'm accepeting a call center job, yes, I'd be worried. But I'd be worried accepting "any" call center job, anywhere. But if, for example, I was accepeting an Investment Banking position, I wouldn't be as worried. Especially not after Wachovia has recently annouced they'd be adding jobs in that division with the opening of their new building.

Playing along? Me? Oh no. I think that's the problem, it appears you're not taking the "real" issue seriously.

[BrianH1970]

Originally Posted by Carolina Blue

There is not a "Yes or No" answer to this question above. It depends on what job I'm accepting and it depends on my job skills, my education, etc. If I'm accepeting a call center job, yes, I'd be worried. But I'd be worried accepting "any" call center job, anywhere. But if, for example, I was accepeting an Investment Banking position, I wouldn't be as worried. Especially not after Wachovia has recently annouced they'd be adding jobs in that division with the opening of their new building.

Playing along? Me? Oh no. I think that's the problem, it appears you're not taking the "real" issue seriously.

I guess when loan review was outsourced to India last year it was really a call center function, right? I guess since more of loan review is gearing up to go that's really a call center function as well. The jobs that were up in New Jersey that got sent over to India...those were call center jobs too, right. IT jobs, the ones that were mentioned to be outsourced, they're call center too I suppose. The processing jobs that were mentioned in the articles...call center.

Again, thanks for playing.

[CharlotteAgent]

Just a quick note before I jump off here tonight. Talking to my source some of the work is coming back to Charlotte since the outsourcing company is hard to work with and not working to plan. The work load is not any easier by any means!


More news at 11.

[BrianH1970]

Originally Posted by CharlotteAgent

Just a quick note before I jump off here tonight. Talking to my source some of the work is coming back to Charlotte since the outsourcing company is hard to work with and not working to plan. The work load is not any easier by any means!


More news at 11.

Dated today...

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Sa...=1037645507703

Wachovia is proceeding with a three-year plan, called Operational Efficiency Improvement, which started in January 2005. The goal is to reduce annual costs between $600 million to $1 billion. Part of the plan is to cut up to 4,000 positions by the end of 2007, including sending technology jobs overseas.

Thompson said that every division of the bank is either outsourcing or sending parts of its work offshore to “make the kind of profits we need to make” to compete with U.S. and global rivals. “It’s a way of life,” he said.

I'll believe Ken Thompson on this one...