PROFITS ARE up, so it's time to slash the workforce.
That's the story at State Street Corp., which recently announced the elimination of 1,400 jobs, including 400 in Massachusetts. Those jobs are gone, even though State Street last reported profits of $427 million, up about 20 percent from a year ago. Operating revenue also rose 8.4 percent. . .
By cutting loose 1,400 workers, State Street shifts the burden of keeping them solvent from the private sector to the public. Now, it's the taxpayers' job to underwrite them, via unemployment benefits.
And that's only the start of the ripple effect on a still-fragile economy. How many of the newly unemployed will no longer be able to pay their mortgages, or keep up with cable and credit card bills? Without employer-backed health insurance, how many will turn to state-subsidized insurance?
While workers hit the streets, management hits the jackpot. According to Forbes.com, Hooley's 2009 compensation package totaled $13.9 million. And that was before he took over as State Street's CEO last March. Asked if management would be taking pay cuts or forgoing bonuses, Carolyn Cichon, a State Street spokesperson, said only that 2010 compensation, including executive incentive compensation, "will be determined in the first quarter of 2011.''
Gag me. These are not people. These are not citizens. These are profit making machines that are killing the middle class. Yeah, they deserve tax cuts and "free" speech protection . . . not.
