Putting this here to see if anyone notices/cares to comment. I’m a Uniondale employee, one of about 200. Various business lines where most are vestiges of the old Dreyfus business. It’s clear the greater corporation wants to reduce headcount by forcing this move while offering no financial incentive. The commute from Long Island to NYC requires a train and subway. We’re looking at an estimated $5,000 cost for that, nothing less than 90 minutes, some will have over 2 hours one way. These are good dedicated employees who are being tossed out. Sure, the jobs aren’t eliminated (yet) or offshored (yet), and as someone here posted AI = All India. The transition will be difficult at best. We’ll see if it’s tolerable, but no one really seems to care. The announcement was heartless, an 8AM teams meeting where KB proved again to be soulless. He read a prepared statement that took all of 4 minutes. That’s it. Most groups didn’t even have senior management in house to… well to lead by example. But we will do the purposeless exercise of feedback, complete the peak on surveys, attend town halls in order to hear how fantastic everything is. Sad that a corporation of this magnitude won’t offer assistance to keep people happily employed. Oh wait, I just received an email from KB titled Uniondale Office - Helpful Resources. It contained two links. One for a commuter benefits program where BK hires a company to explain/manage your ability to have a maximum pretax (fed only) contribution of $340/month to cover commuting costs. Something but very very minor. And don’t forget that our taxes will now increase because NYC taxes will apply. Another 2-2 percent salary increase would go a long way in meeting the extra cost as well as supporting the idea that BNY cares about its employees. In reality leadership cares about the next McKinsey project (how’s P-M treating you?) and publicity for the CEO. All hail the smirking emperor who had a massive pay increase on the broken backs of his overworked employees. Let’s see how they react to people agreeing to move but resign at the last minute.
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If you took time to read what OP said you’d understand he wasn’t putting blame in KB, only his soulless approach. Real anger was pointed at upper management that stayed away, stayed silent. Wouldn’t real leaders make themselves available during an announcement like that?
KB fought long and hard to keep Uniondale afloat. The issue isn’t with Uniondale mgmt. it starts at the top open your eyes and leave KB out of it. Do you honestly think he had a choice? It wasn’t his idea lol
Yes it su-ks what is happening to this office after a long career in this building but it’s coming from the top not KB.
@v2 "This is what they do and will continue to do until the share price is favorable then cash in and leave the scene of the crime. Next savior will arrive announce P_M was sh_t all along and they have a whizz bang idea to make it all better and round we go again."
True words spoken right there.
The only surprise here is the apparent surprise expressed by the OP. Total empathy as in a similar position elsewhere but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it's a duck. This is what they do and will continue to do until the share price is favourable then cash in and leave the scene of the crime. Next saviour will arrive announce P_M was sh_t all along and they have a whizz bang idea to make it all better and round we go again.
@dc $500 per month LIRR Transit tickets and subways.. more like $6000
@eq something must’ve changed recently then because I was never told that and those who made the move last year didn't have that happen.
OP
You are totally on the mark. The only thing Robin cares about it using the Uniondale
Employees as lab animals to meet his expensive controls via payroll masked as profit for stock price gains. The 200 people are ‘marked’ now. Trust me. Even those who make the commute and pay the costs to go into NYC are going to be plucked non stop. Robin has looked at this location and views it an opportunity for shredding costs. Everyone here at BNY is not valued as a person. You are valued only as the next layoff opportunity without severence!
@dc
What planet are you from boy? The planet Mo--nica?
Monthly train tickets are $300+ a month, then there is monthly parking, then there is the cost of either the PATH train or city subway. Then there is gas and tolls to get to these stations.
I would wager it could approach $6,000 for some
@d3
Nope. I’ve talked to a few people seriously considering the move, and after their little chats with managers and HR, the story becomes pretty clear. They dress it up as a “COLA adjustment”, you know, to make it sound thoughtful and industry-savvy. Meanwhile, Lake Mary isn’t exactly the bargain bin of metro areas, so the math isn’t quite as cute as they’d like it to be.
@e6 seriously? Nobody in Uniondale is making that.
@dc look at the NJ side.. train/bus/ferry all way higher than LIRR and other LI means of commute. I paid roughly 8500/yr commuting. Thank God I am now self employed and make the decisions myself. Anyone thinking of crossing over, do it, it is worth it.. leave the w2 behind
@bf do you really think the senior execs making 20mm plus per year do not have 3k sf condos in the west village a few blocks from the office??? in addition to their westchester and hamptons and naples homes.... lets be serious. The worker bees are the only ones commuting.
@OP 1000% TRUTH. F this guy.. getting 50mm extra per year while employees have to add 4 hours daily travel to their miserable day in the office all at the cost of ~$45/day. BNY has no concern about the employees well-being, financials, family life. This is reminiscent of a monarchy with a king and serfs... This place ruins so many lives!! They could care less about any employees making less than $5mm/yr! Everytime the BNY name comes up in conversation at old wall street watering holes, people rave about how terrible of a place it is.. without fail.. F this place and I hope the people running it fall hard.
I think the main consideration in this situation is that commuting is entirely feasible, since people do it all the time. It does come with a cost, but in places like NYC, salaries are typically much higher to make that tradeoff worthwhile. In this case, if the pay does not sufficiently offset the cost of commuting or align with your willingness to do it, that becomes the real issue. If you are willing to take on the commute, then staying at BNY despite low pay and the possibility of being let go in the future does not seem like a sensible choice. If you do a quick job search you will see at every level there will be higher pay options than what BNY is paying even comparing NYC to NYC roles. I also agree with the previous poster that this decision likely came from much higher up in the organization, so placing blame at the local level does not reflect where it was actually made. It was good while it lasted.
Reminder. BNY is not a real firm.
@dc look it up
$350 monthly ticket - of course it depends on where you are commuting from but absolutely with parking costs can total 5k/year
What planet are you on that you need $5000 in commuting costs. The LIRR is no place near that price.
@by what mandatory 25% paycut? Did you just make that up? Lol
It could be worse. At least they are not forcing you to relocate to Lake Mary on your own dime and take the mandatory 25% Lake Mary pay cut. Good luck to you all and those in Pennington. Thank god I'm no longer at BNY.
I feel bad for you but not that bad because I’ve commuted from Long Island to NYC for 35 years. You are kind of preaching to the choir. Most of us figure you were very lucky for years and we weren’t. And you don’t pay NYC taxes if you commute from LI.
@OP they did same disgusting sh-t to the oriskany site after telling us 7 months early we had no worry and that a florida location would be closed. Then all we got is an a--hole (matt wells) who drove from NYC to our location to announce they were closing the location which was always listed as the low cost ideal site. He was on site and hid in a room while telling us this sh-t via webex. Then Moved us all home permanently while our office has continued to site closed now for 2.5 years while they quietly terminate bah staff cause they “dont want anyone working from home”. They caused it and yet we are losing our jobs because of it
Well said
Why are you blaming others for your career choices? We all decided to stay in this office because it was comfortable. Do you really think senior management wants to go into Manhattan and have the same miserable commuting experience that we all will? Put the blame on where it belongs and that’s you and me because we decided convenience over a career.
Thy don’t care about you! They only care about the stock price and their own bonuses. Please see previous posts about the Pennington site closure.
Well Pennington office is in same boat…not sure what I’m doing yet.
@b1 100%!! Its not the Uniondale management that is the foe, its much higher up.
You should be thanking KB and senior management for extending the previous lease. These leaders kept LI folks in these seats the past five years and you should be thanking them. You will never find senior management that cares about their staff the way that Uniondale senior management does. You should be thanking them for keeping you in the Uniondale office this long.
Godspeed
Did they remind you that you are an at will employee? We got that when they bulldozed our careers.
Corporate greed at its finest. All RV cares about his the stock market and his stocks. All at the expense of the employees. AI, offshoring to India and layoffs.