Employees of RBC Wealth Management-U.S. will not have to worry about layoffs amid the coronavirus crisis, according to the firm’s parent company, Royal Bank of Canada.
“[W]hile we’re all living in stressful and uncertain times, we don’t want RBC employees to worry about their jobs,” RBC CEO Dave McKay told staff via a memo.
RBC joins a variety of North America’s large financial institutions in their vow to not layoff employees in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that has ravaged markets and the global economy. Last week Wells Fargo joined Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and HSBC as companies who have publicly or privately declared that they will be holding off on reducing their headcounts.
Elsewhere, Citigroup CEO Mike Corbat told CNBC that the American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation “will at least temporarily refrain from layoffs.” Reuters, meanwhile, reported that a source said that Corbat ordered a suspension of planned cuts.
RBC also announced that it will be giving hazard pay of $50 per day to workers who still have to go to the office to do their jobs, which includes some traders as well as branch staff.
The Canadian bank bank will also continue recruiting through the crisis. To do this, the company will be pivoting on how they meet with potential recruits. No longer will prospective employees begin the process with a VIP visit to the home office. Instead, Minneapolis-based president of RBC Wealth Management-U.S. Thomas Sagissor told Financial Advisor IQ that they will hold meetings via webcasts.
“I believe that this pivot is going to be, long term, very beneficial to our recruiting efforts,” said Sagissor. “It will enhance our recruiting efforts and it will give us the opportunity to see more people and talk to more people and engage with more people.”
