Layoffs continued at Bank of New York Mellon last week, following an initial round last Monday.
The number of cuts so far is said to be around 700 companywide, including about 170 in Pittsburgh.
As of Sept. 30, the New York-based trust and custody giant had roughly 52,000 employees, including about 7,000 in the Pittsburgh region.
Spokeswoman Jennifer Hendricks Sullivan declined comment on the size of the layoffs or whether more cuts were coming.
During an earnings call in October while discussing cost controls, Chairman and CEO Charlie Scharf had signaled that significant layoffs could be on the way.
He noted that typically there were 10 to 11 layers between top management and the most junior employees at the company. That was “far more than I’ve experienced in other organizations,” he told analysts.
Reducing those layers will not only cut costs, but also “help advance our culture by improving decision-making, allowing us to move more quickly,” Mr. Scharf said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call last week.
“We remain extremely focused on controlling our expenses, while we continue to significantly increase our technology and infrastructure investments,” he said.
The bank reported last week that it earned $832 million, or 84 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, down from $1.1 billion, or $1.08, in the same quarter a year earlier. Excluding special items, earnings per share rose 9 percent.
For all of 2018, BNY Mellon earned $4.1 billion, or $4.04 per share, vs. $3.9 billion, or $3.72, in 2017.
Patricia Sabatini: PSabatini@post-gazette.com; 412-263-3066.
First Published: January 22, 2019, 10:27 p.m.