Whither MF Global's Employees?

I could not care less about MF Global’s counterparties although I do feel a bit bad for its customers, some of whom now must fight and stand in line to get their own money back.

But the people I truly feel bad for in this mess are the (ex) employees of the company.  They are being cast off at just the absolute worst time imaginable, as brokerage businesses shrink from coast to coast.  I have no idea where these people will find employment…do you have any idea how many ex-Bear and Lehman people are still wandering around NYC with nothing to do with themselves?

Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) — — MF Global Inc.’s workforce of 1,066 broker-dealer employees was fired as the failed brokerage closes its New York office and liquidates in an attempt to return assets to customers under the guidance of a trustee.

The broker-dealer, winding down since Oct. 31, will pay employees through Nov. 15, according to a statement today from the office of the trustee, James Giddens. As many as 200 former employees are being hired to assist in the liquidation of the broker-dealer, Giddens said.

Some employees of MF Global Inc., the broker-dealer unit of bankrupt MF Global Holdings Ltd., learned they were being fired from news reports, a person familiar with the matter said. The press release was distributed to and reported by the news media before all MF Global employees who were losing their jobs were notified, according to the person, who declined to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly on the firings

“We were well into the process of notifying employees and were attempting to personally reach as many employees as possible when the release went out,” said Kent Jarrell, a spokesman for Giddens.

I worked at two brokerage firms that ended up shuttered; fortunately, in all three cases I left on my own months before the end.  The people at MF, for the most part, had no idea the end was so near.  How could they when Captain Queeg was holed up in his trading nest making disastrous bets on Europe like he was back at Goldman in the bull-market heyday again.

What a dick.

Source:

MF Trustee Fires Entire Broker-Dealer Workforce of 1,066 (Bloomberg)