Gettin the Shaft

I have been sitting here for about 15 minutes debating on whether to write about this subject...yes....no...yes...no. I finally settled on yes. Not because I want to complain, but because I try to be as honest as possible and like to call it like I see it. That being said, it appears that us working class stiffs at AG Edwards are scheduled to get the shaft soon from our employer. I have always loved working for Edwards and have never really had a bad thing to say about them. For being a large Wall Street firm, they have always gone out of their way to make the company feel like one big family. Unfortunately, things seem to have been changing the last two years. Gone is the big family company and it's replacement is the money hungry, bottom-line focused company I see today. It seems that the company that once prided itself on being different and open to all investors and any size account is heading down the same road as the others out there. Just chase those big accounts and don't worry about the "small stuff".

From what I understand, the meeting we have scheduled tomorrow morning is to break the news to us. I would hate to be in my branch manager's shoes tonight having to sleep on this one. He is only the messenger here, but I know that things will not be pretty at about 9am tomorrow. According to my "sources", he has to tell all of us tomorrow that a) our pay is getting cut and b) the clients are going to pay more to do business with us. Now, that is a simplification, but I am sure nobody cares to hear all the small details. Sounds like the new policy is: "We are going to charge the clients more and going to stick it in the employees asses all at the same time." It really is sad. All I know is this isn't the same company that Ben Edwards ran six years ago.