Masters Lose Their Universe
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday December 5, 2008
YESTERDAY after lunch the doors at Macquarie Bank closed for a meeting that never came. Instead there were letters. Redundancies unexpected in scope or timing.
Workers at the so-called Millionaires Factory, which last week spent $500,000 on a Christmas party, spent last night in the bars of the central business district. They had gone to work the masters of the universe and left it unemployed."They locked the doors down on our level, said we had a meeting. Then they just went around, one by one: 'Here's your letter, goodbye,' " a senior infrastructure analyst, now redundant, said. "It just came out of nowhere."Other senior members of staff explained how they were sacked in the morning, then told to go through and sack their staff that afternoon. Some divisions said they lost 80; others put their figure at 100. In pubs last night, a picture emerged of a workforce who had watched the financial crisis but not their own back."They're meant to be the Millionaires Factory," a former manager said. "I've sold my life there for 15 years. Tomorrow I've got no money, no Christmas presents. They had me working 80 hours a week and I've got nothing now."Last night ties were loosened in a bar on Australia Square. Hugs were shared, earlier than normal. The masculinity of financial services spilled out over schooners of Asahi. "We went to the Christmas party, had a good night, and then they ditched us today," an assistant account manager from financial services said. "Macquarie Bank is a fantastic company that treats its staff with the utmost respect," a former employee said into his gin and tonic. "That's not sarcasm." High-fliers crash - Page 19
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