Major Lay Offs for Wall Street? Or Just a Blip on the Radar?Major Lay Offs for Wall Street? Or Just a Blip on the Radar?

Halah Touryalai

When the going gets tough, the tough get … laid off. We’re not sure how hard Wall Street will be hit by pink slips, but one recruitment firm estimates that about 140,000 employees will be let go in the aftermath of the credit crunch and the resulting write-downs at the major wirehouses.

This morning, CNBC reported that Citigroup alone could cut anywhere between 17,000 and 45,000 employees. There’s no telling how the Citigroup advisors, or advisors at other firms, will be affected by such drastic cuts.

Of course, for most financial advisors, you eat what you kill, as they say. So financial advisors are more immune from any layoffs that do take effect. Besides, the retail brokerage divisions of the Wall Street firms were the bright spots in a quarter of generally dismal earnings reports. Then again, perhaps no head is safe when heads begin to roll. And if we’ve learned anything from recent broker firings, advisors doing the least amount of killing are most likely to see the door. (Read why Morgan Stanley fired 1,000 of its reps back in 2005—and read about it’s turnaround.)

Jake Zamansky, a New York-based securities lawyer, shares some advice for advisors who find themselves without a job.