“These jobs are goin’ boys and they ain’t comin’ back” (Bruce Springsteen, “My Hometown”)
Where have all the jobs gone?
At a picnic recently, someone asked why all the wars the US is in aren’t creating jobs like they did during World War II.
“Hey! Why go back to World War II?” asked someone else, “Every job I held as an adult in my 20s was connected in some way to the Vietnam war.”
Why, we all wondered, aren’t the wars we are in now creating more jobs?
Well, maybe these wars are creating jobs. But here’s the thing – a body that creates 100 new cells every time it loses 1,000 cells is not going to look as good it did as time goes by. Here’s an example of what I’m tailing about.
A message from my bank
Recently I received an email from HSBC, the British bank, announcing closures of US branches in New York.
Being in California, I didn’t pay much attention. But a couple days later, on August 2, 2011, an item on the front page of the London Financial Times caught my eye:
Hiring and Firing
HSBC is planning to hire up to 15,000 people in fast-growing Asian and Latin American markets in the next three years while culling jobs elsewhere. Stuart Gulliver, chief executive, confirmed plans to cut up to 30,000 jobs by 2013, amid stronger-than-expected first-half results. Mr. Gulliver plans to strip up to $3.5bn from the bank’s cost base by 2013.
WOW! That word “elsewhere” in the phrase “culling jobs” above sure doesn’t tell the whole story does it! But HSBC’s email to this “valued customer” tells part of the story:
Subject: HSBC Announces Sale of Upstate New York Retail Branch Network
As you may be aware HSBC Bank USA N.A. (HSBC) has been undergoing a review of the markets in which we operate globally to reposition our businesses around our vision to become the leading international bank. Consistent with HSBC’s global strategy, HSBC Bank USA has been conducting an analysis of its retail branch network to align the size and locations of our U.S. branches with those markets with strong international connectivity.
I am writing to you today to let you know that HSBC has reached an agreement to sell all retail branches in Upstate New York along with 4 branches in Westchester County and 2 branches in Putnam County New York, and 6 branches in Connecticut to First Niagara Group, Inc., subject to regulatory approval. Please click here for a list of impacted branches.
In addition, and also subject to regulatory approval, we will be consolidating approximately 13 branches in Connecticut and New Jersey into nearby branches…
If you would like further details on this announcement, please visit our website www.us.hsbc.com.
I take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing business and loyalty, and look forward to continuing to meet your financial needs.
Sincerely,
Kevin Martin
Senior Executive Vice President
Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management
HSBC Bank USA N.A.
All of our hometowns are goin’ boys
When Bruce Springsteen released “My Hometown” in 1984, he was singing about the loss of jobs from the northern states to the southern states in the United States. Don’t we all wish that were still the case!!!
You can see where our jobs going now, right? Why can’t our politicians in Washington?
Follow Nancy Humphreys on Twitter @brucenomics
2 comments ↓
Right on again, Nancy (complete with sad analogy to the aging process). WWII was a massive and complete national mobilization which left almost no one untouched and remade the geography of the US (and the globe). Not that I want more war, but even the wars of today come nowhere near matching the scale of that effort. Nor do any infrastructure projects today come anywhere near the WPA in scope, unfortunately. It seems that no one is planning how we, as that archaic structure, a nation, can retain any preeminence in the global economy. Shipping corporate jobs overseas, so the corporations themselves remain competitive, just doesn’t do it. Thx for a great post.
Good article Nancy and very true. Thanks. I found a good sign on local jobs though. The job picture seems to have changed locally recently in one field. Computer positions in San Francisco and the silicone valley have become quite plentiful. My son, who is a Data Base Administrator, had lost his job over a year ago because of downsizing and couldn’t find anything. All of a sudden the market softened and there are good paying openings in that field. Hewlett Packard, Sony and several other large firms are looking for applicants for a variety of computer related positions. I found out about it because I was helping my son look and I referred him to some of the ads I had seen. He is now fully employed with a large German bank in the financial district in SF. He can even walk to work from his home. He hopes the position becomes permanent.
RAOUL
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