Brokerage confirms most positions will be in St. Louis after merger
August 28, 2007
About 2,000 people in the Richmond area are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the merger of Wachovia Securities and A.G. Edwards Inc.
Only a few hundred employees of Richmond-based Wachovia Securities, including upper-level management, are expected to be given the opportunity to move, company spokesman Tony Mattera said.
Most of the positions will be in St. Louis, home of A.G. Edwards and the soon-to-be combined firm.
Employees at Wachovia Securities received the official word yesterday. The brokerage employs 2,600 people in the Richmond area. Employees don't know yet who will be offered jobs in St. Louis, Mattera said.
About 100 brokers and 75 support staff members will stay in Richmond as well as 400 people in technology and operations.
All other functions, including marketing, compliance, legal, communications and human resources, will be in St. Louis. "We are confirming what we have been saying all along," Mattera said. "Most positions in the firm will be in St. Louis."
Company officials have said they didn't know which functions would be where, leaving many to speculate about jobs here.
"It shouldn't come as a surprise, but confirmation is a shock nonetheless," Mattera said. "Over the next few weeks, we should have a better sense of what this means."
It means employees will be told when their jobs end here, he said. Some will be offered incentives to stay until the end date. "A few hundred will be asked to transfer."
The $6.8 billion deal, announced May 31, is expected to close in the fourth quarter. It would create the second-largest U.S. brokerage after Merrill Lynch & Co.
The conversion into one company will occur during the next 18 to 19 months, Mattera said.
William F. Mezger, chief economist at the Virginia Employment Commission, said the loss of about 2,000 jobs at Wachovia Securities could cause the unemployment rate to increase slightly.
But if employment is trimmed over a period of time, it's not likely to move the needle.
"It's the normal churnings of the labor market," Mezger said.
So many lost jobs in a town the size of Danville would hurt, he said.
"An area as large as Richmond can take changes of that sort."
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