We were genuinely sad to read the internal memo to Merrill Lynch staff asking whether some people would like to hold their hands up and take early retirement, take a sabbatical or find a comfortable berth with the opposition. As an inducement, Merrill would hand every volunteer leaver a large bag of swag as they filed through the exit. The memo was from the human resources department (not a proper job really is it?) but, unless you urgently require the services of a guide dog, the thumbprints of chairman David Komansky and president Stan O'Neal were clearly visible. Our long term respect for Merrill is beyond dispute but this memo, which should never have been distributed, marks a new psychological low in the company's fortunes. We say this for a number of reasons. First, the press immediately implied that it had been sent to every employee. We would bet you sixpence to a cheek-to-cheek dance with Liz Hurley or Elle Macpherson that Messrs Komansky and O'Neal were not asked to make up their minds. However, on the wire services appeared bold statements such as "Merrill Lynch is offering a severance package to all of its 65,900 staff to resign". What was your reaction when you saw a headline like that? We wondered, "what would happen if all 65,900 employees said "thanks a bunch Dave and Stan", and then ran for the hills. At a single stroke the world's best known securities house would disappear.
November 02, 2001
