Merrill Lynch is nixing brokers’ requests to hire client associates even when they agree to fund new staff out of their own pockets, according to multiple sources.
“We had a colleague try to hire someone and get rejected,” a 16-year Merrill veteran said, noting that the broker making the proposal had offered to pay for the hire.
Another 25-year Merrill veteran said he was told to lean on existing office staff for now to replace a client associate who had recently left. A third broker was unable to hire a relative to his team.
Merrill’s limits on hiring new client associates and support staff adhere to its parent Bank of America’s enterprise-wide commitment to barring any increase to overall headcount, according to four sources, including three inside the company.
Even when the advisors pay part or the full salaries of client associates, the company nevertheless still bears the expense of the employees’ workplace benefits, including health care insurance and payroll taxes, at a time when Bank of America has been focused on steadying headcount.
“It’s a headcount management thing. The big firms all go through this,” said a recruiter who speaks regularly to Merrill advisors.
The freeze comes as at least one of Merrill’s wirehouse peers, UBS Wealth Management USA, has taken a more aggressive approach in recent weeks and has been laying off client service associates.
A Merrill spokesperson declined to comment on or confirm the hiring limits, other than emailing the statement, which said: “We continue to selectively hire client-facing associates in areas of greatest need.”
Merrill has continued to hire for registered roles, including brokers joining its Accelerated Growth Program, according to at least two internal sources. It has also not retrenched from its effort to restart its veteran broker recruiting, the sources said.
Bloomberg in January reported that Bank of America would pause hiring for most roles until at least mid-year.
“We slowed down hiring as we came into the fourth quarter… and that will allow us to get back in line and start to bring the headcount back down to where we want it to be,” CEO Brian Moynihan said on a company earnings call in January.
