You can bet that uptown elites like those at the top and in the orbit of the Charlotte Chamber know the general extent of the damage Bank of America plans to extract here with job cuts. They also probably know whether it will wipe any significant presence for the bank, and maybe its headquarters, off the map in Charlotte. They’ve got enough connections on the inside of the bank to hear the scuttlebutt, if nothing else. But the details are barely talked about publicly.
But behind closed doors, these things are apparently well known and actually discussed. This week, the public got a peek behind the curtain.
Ever since Bank of America announced it would slash up to 30,000 jobs company wide, there has been a virtual media black hole as far as analysis of how that might impact Charlotte. As I’ve pointed out, Bank of America is the Charlotte region’s third largest employer. The Charlotte Chamber estimates the number of jobs the bank has here at 10,000 to 16,000.
We’ve been told that it looked like BofA would start here with the cuts, which makes sense, because the bank says it will cut heavily from consumer banking and mortgage operations, as well as legal, marketing and human resources — which is just about everything the bank does in Charlotte.
Several news reports have speculated on the number of job cuts, but not the final picture. The Chiquita debate may have brought a small peek behind the curtain after an unnamed city council member leaked part of a warning from Charlotte Chamber President Bob Morgan in closed session to the Charlotte Observer.
The September closed session of the council on Chiquita was around the same time media reports said Charlotte-based Bank of America could cut up to 30,000 jobs – a devastating development.
During the meeting, Charlotte Chamber President Bob Morgan warned council members that the bank “may not exist in its present form in the next 12 to 18 months” and that Chiquita would help the community when it needs “positive news more than ever before.”
Hmmmm …
