State Street Corp. intends to lay off about 1,200 employees,
Eric Aboaf, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said during
the firm's fourth quarter earnings call.
Speaking Tuesday, Mr. Aboaf said that most of the workers
who are to leave the company are in "middle management" and their
absence will be "partially offset by insourcing and critical hires during
the year. This complements the senior management reductions we made two years
ago and the ongoing reduction of junior roles through automation that were
deferred during the COVID-19 pandemic," according to a transcript of the
call.
The company booked an $82 million employee severance charge
in the fourth quarter as part of the action, he said. A company spokesman said
in an email that the layoffs will be made throughout the year.
In a statement accompanying State Street's first quarter
earnings call last April, President and CEO Ronald P. O'Hanley said there would
be no layoffs among the company's global workforce in 2020, adding, "I
believe this is the right decision for our culture, community and
clients."
However, as part of the company's ongoing cost-cutting
measures, he said at that time that State Street would maintain its hiring
freeze for non-critical positions.
During the turmoil produced last year by the pandemic, State
Street created an internal talent marketplace that "offers enhanced
internal mobility and talent matching across our company and is a fundamentally
new way to manage and develop talent at State Street," spokesman Brendan
Paul said in an email.
State Street employees who lose their current jobs will be
able to join the talent marketplace, he said.
Positions likely to be eliminated are primarily "part
of operating model changes (and) business process changes as well as
automation," Mr. Paul said.
As of Dec. 31, State Street Global Advisors managed a total
of $3.47 trillion.
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