Regions and Amsouth Banks Merge 4500 employees get the ax right at Christmas!

[30-30man]

Yeah, my wife is one of them.  She was in upper management for over 15 years so she was one of the first to go.  They gave her a token severance and a good bye.  Then they tell her how positive this is going to be for everyone.  They even had the nerve to send her a set of phamphlets on how to  advertisie to family and friends on how wonderful this merger is.  The sad thing is that it will happen again in about three years and another round of employees will get the heave ho to Wells Fargo.  The only one that seems to profit in these mergers is the board of directors.  They could care less of what happens to their employees. 

[Graybeard]

Regions has the mortgage on my home, all my other business both personal and business accounts are with Amsouth. I've sure seen no positives come from it yet and it seems they are constantly doing some thing else to piss me off with my Amsouth accounts. I think I'm gonna be looking for a different bank soon.

[powderman]

3030 man. I'm sorry to hear that. I work for walmart and they always start running folks off after Christmas, they started early this year. They fired 4 over the weekend. One was justified, a no call no show. The other 3, they won't say. Walmart is judge and jury. They can, and do, make up rules to suit them. No proof is needed, they just fire people, then deny their unemployment. They bragged about giving  us holiday pay for Thanksgiving, then took away 4 hours that week and several more the following week. As bad as it is now I shudder to think what cuts there will be after Christmas. They already told us that we will be cut to 32 hours Christmas week. POWDERMAN. 

[jh45gun]

It does not matter folks there is no thing as job security anymore has not been for a long time and for you union folks do not kid your selves your just as vunerable. All the union does is tell you how to vote and take your dues. Then if you go on strike normally you never gain what you lost while on strike anyway if it is for any period of time. It does not matter who you work for if it is a big outfit. Worker loyalty may get you some relief in a small business but even then if times get tough for them they may have to lay you off too.  On the other hand it is a two way street. Used to be a guy went to work for a company and retired from them after 30 40 years ect. Now days people get hired from a company and spend time and money on them to train them and the first job that comes along they up and quit and try to better them selves. Now I can see bettering your self but it has gotten to a point I can see the companies point too so I can see how they do not feel too quilty about letting folks go as the employees do it to them too.

[30-30man]

I see it as a two way street. People are like dogs, feed them good and take care of them, they will stay.  Feed them crappy food and never take care of them, they will find a better home.  Pay a decent "living" wage and people are loyal and stay there.  Most of the businesses around here that pay good keep their employees a long time.  Many never leave.  People start looking elsewhere when they can't make ends meet and there are no benefits etc. That is why Walmart, etc have such big turn-overs.  Loyalty is a two way street. 

[jh45gun]

I see it as a two way street. People are like dogs, feed them good and take care of them, they will stay.  Feed them crappy food and never take care of them, they will find a better home.  Pay a decent "living" wage and people are loyal and stay there.  Most of the businesses around here that pay good keep their employees a long time.  Many never leave.  People start looking elsewhere when they can't make ends meet and there are no benefits etc. That is why Walmart, etc have such big turn-overs.  Loyalty is a two way street. 

Your contradicting your self as your wife was one of the first to go being upper management. My point being does not matter if you want to leave or not you still may get let go.   Lots of companies let folks go that make the big money then rehire and start over that way they do not have to pay a jucy retirement either. Like I said these days there is no job security. I have heard of lots of folks loose their jobs that felt they would be there until retirement. It may be a company being sold to another or taken over or the business goes bust or they kust have to downsize to compete. The thing is there is no guarantees anymore not like the days of our fathers and grandfathers who could get a job and work until they retired. Yea that still happens but it is not a sure thing anymore.

[victorcharlie]

Sorry to hear this.

Big picture, Jobs are moving overseas to enjoy cheaper labor.   The jobs that can't be moved are increasingly filled by illegal aliens at a far lower rate of pay than americans.  Add mergers and buy-outs and this speeds the process.

Profits are up, the stock market is near record territory.

The term "New world Order" is really the elimination of the middle class world wide and the enslavement of labor.

The super wealthy don't care what flag flies, they're diversified around the globe.

One power the federal government was given was to coin money and regulate commerce......so what do they do?  Deregulate the banking industry.........

Go figure......

[Questor]

Sorry about how your wife was cast aside like an old shoe.

Unfortunately, that's the way it is in banking these days. Acquisitions drive everything. I've worked in the consulting side of bank acquisistions for years and have seen many good people get dumped just like her. The most heartbreaking thing is the level of dedication and loyalty the employees have typically had right up to the time of getting fired.

The lighter side of the news is that good people always have a way of landing one their feet. It just takes a while to re-think what your next moves need to be.

Once again, sorry about your wife's loss. She must be very upset about it.

[30-30man]

Thanks Questor, I am thankful she will be going into business for herself.  She didn't want to work for a company that would throw people with up to 25 years away like trash anyway. There simply was no reason to fire these people.  Stock prices were up along with profits.  Greed is what gave these people the axe.   What really bothers me is that Regions will advertise this merge as the best thing since sliced bread.  They won't tell you that 4500 employees got the axe right at Christmas and that if you need a home or commercial loan to start a business, the decision will be made by someone over 500 miles away.  I encourage all of you to bank at your local credit unions, and small town banks.  Leave the big chain banks alone.  If you do business with them, you are just condoning the greed they have.  Most often that not, they charge more fees anyway and you can get much better service with the credit unions or small town banks.

[Questor]

30-30man:

Amazingly most of these things seem to happen within a few weeks of Christmas these days. It used to be something they did at other times of the year, but no more. Today it's just another piece of end-of-year housekeeping. You should hear the turkeys that make these decision talk. I get mad just thinking about it. It's like they're not human. They never talk about people, just resources. Then they get fired too after a few years and get higher paying jobs someplace else firing people.