Britain's Monzo cutting up to 120 jobs due to coronavirus impact

[anon95680666]

Premium accounts I think will be a good source of income in the future along with business accounts , and the metal card looks pretty damn good , and Im not really interested in a metal card , but it did / does feel quality the premium account was due to launch I think on 27th March according to my source after speaking on March 2nd , all this was totally predictable with hindsight

[Revels]

@Eden

All the major banks have made one statement or another saying that there are no plans for any job cuts as they don’t want employees left in the pandemic with no ability to get a new job. Monzo appear to be the only one cutting staff. It’s a bit shocking considering their apparent ethical stance.

What? Banks don’t care about their staff, they care about profits. If Natwest need to cut 1000 jobs, they will do it. They won’t keep losing money because Dorothy won’t be able to pay her mortgage.

Bringing up ethics is just weird.

@Eden

What does this put monzos head count at now. Does anyone know?

It’s in the article.

They are losing 8% of staff with the redundancies

[Revels]

@Eden

That they’re the only bank firing staff in the middle of a pandemic is telling of something.

So far. They understand the pandemic and what this means for their business.

It’s unfortunate for anyone that loses their job during this, no matter where they work, but there will be thousands more across all sectors.

[jzw95]

@N26throwaway

They were asking, when you combine all three staff cuts, how many employees does that leave them with.

Furloughed staff have not been cut, they are still employed by Monzo. The redundancies are across all current staff, furloughed and non-furloughed (i.e. some furloughed staff are at risk of redundancy, some not, same with non-furloughed staff).

@N26throwaway

In the form of a number, not a percentage.

Are people reading previous posts, or just posting vague assumptions?

@jzw95

So Monzo currently have around 1,500 staff.

Or is the basic maths a problem? 1,500 - 120 = 1,380

[tbutz (🏳️‍🌈 Producer of "low value commentary")]

@Eden

Many banks are taking the hit to keep employees on specifically because of the pandemic both in the U.K., Europe and the US. This if nothing else seems to suggest that monzo are not able to keep their employees on at all and have no choice but to cut jobs just to survive.

Many banks also charge you £25 for a missed direct debit. I wonder how come they are able to pay those staff?

[Revels]

@Eden

They aren’t paid by monzo, so currently aren’t a problem to them.

What I was considering is what their total active staff count will be.

1500 - up to 580 employees is a sizeable downsizing for such a young company.

You can keep including the furloughed staff because it suits your narrative, but they are not part of a ‘downsize’

[tbutz (🏳️‍🌈 Producer of "low value commentary")]

@Eden

Defend monzo the the bitter end?

Yes, of course. Any defence of Monzo or pointing out the flaws in an argument is OMG FANBOYZ.

Seriously.

[lpoolrob (Rob)]

I think this might be a reality check to some Monzo staff (and to customers who think Monzo can do no wrong). They are not your friend, they do not put ethics above profit, but they are a (currently) loss making corporate entity albeit with a good marketing team.

They might well use the current situation (either by choice or by necessity) to cut staff which will help towards profitability, and there is nothing wrong with that - it should be encouraged. It doesn’t make it less upsetting for those who are going to lose their job of course. But that is the reality. Monzo is not one of your mates.

Sadly I can’t see the community lasting unless it gets run by volunteers.

[tbutz (🏳️‍🌈 Producer of "low value commentary")]

@lpoolrob

I think this might be a reality check to some Monzo staff (and to customers who think Monzo can do no wrong).

@lpoolrob

They might well use the current situation (either by choice or by necessity) to cut staff which will help towards profitability, and there is nothing wrong with that - it should be encouraged.

So, what you’re saying is that people believe Monzo can do no wrong, and this will change that outlook, but they are not doing anything wrong here? So why would this be a reality check again? I don’t get the logic. Or is this just you having a go for the sake of having a go?

[lpoolrob (Rob)]

Huh? Not sure it is ‘having a go’ when it was a post supporting Monzo.

@tbutz

Or is this just you having a go for the sake of having a go?

Sounds like you are

[Sachaz (Sacha Zarb)]

Haven’t most banks seen an increase in deposits as people aren’t spending at the levels they were before early March?

My accounts have never looked so full

[StuartB (Stuart)]

That’s precisely the problem actually.

Nobody is using their cards to buy anything - that’s a massive drop in revenue for banks.

[anon95680666]

in fairness the downsizing of HSBC has been delayed not halted, the 12000 + redundancies per year for the next three years are still planned

" signalling that the bank intended to restart redundancies when the coronavirus crisis passes "

https://www.ft.com/content/47186ac9-c0c9-43b9-a232-9995c46e4918

[jzw95]

@lpoolrob

Sadly I can’t see the community lasting unless it gets run by volunteers.

Isn’t it already? There never seems to be a community manager who stays for more than a couple of posts before losing interest in the forum. Other staff do post of course, and their input is hugely appreciated, but I mean in terms of ‘running’ the forum.

[lpoolrob (Rob)]

I think that is a little unfair @simonb was paid a salary and one of his roles was the forum. Since then there has been Alan(?? - I guess that is your point made when you can’t remember his name)

[jzw95]

@lpoolrob

they do not put ethics above profit

I don’t think making people redundant is necessarily about ethics. Is it ethical to employ more people than you can afford so that the whole organisation falls apart and everyone is unemployed? There are ethical ways of going about redundancies, and we have not seen anything to indicate one way or another how Monzo is going through this process. Certainly there’s nothing we’ve seen that indicates they’re not being ethical about it.

[Feathers (MikeF)]

@lpoolrob

I think this might be a reality check to some Monzo staff (and to customers who think Monzo can do no wrong). They are not your friend, they do not put ethics above profit, but they are a (currently) loss making corporate entity albeit with a good marketing team.

They might well use the current situation (either by choice or by necessity) to cut staff which will help towards profitability, and there is nothing wrong with that - it should be encouraged. It doesn’t make it less upsetting for those who are going to lose their job of course. But that is the reality. Monzo is not one of your mates.

This is pretty much a sef-perpetuating myth though.

It gets trotted out every few months when someone wants to make a point but I’ve not seen much evidence that these people actually ever existed. I’ve always assumed it was created by those who just wanted to have a dig at other forum users but didn’t have anything concrete to hit them with. This always came across as a lazy, easy cheap shot designed to make any reaction look like fanboy nonsense.

Not saying that’s what you’re doing here. As a story, it’s taken on a bit of a life of it’s own in the last couple of years but I don’t think I ever saw the behaviour that it’s supposed to be highlighting.

As to ethics being related to not making redundancies… It’s a nice ideal but it’s fiction. Again, it’s a good way of making a point but it’s a paper thin excuse for a bit of a dig in my view. Most of us work for someone and surely understand how businesses work?

@lpoolrob

Sadly I can’t see the community lasting unless it gets run by volunteers.

Isn’t it already?

[jzw95]

@lpoolrob

I think that is a little unfair @simonb was paid a salary and one of his roles was the forum.

Oh, I didn’t realise that was part of Simon’s role. I was under the impression he was doing it because he cared so deeply about the forum. There seem to have been other ‘official’ forum managers come and go, and none of them have been as involved as @simonb, @Rika, @bruno, etc. (you get the picture). This feels very much like a volunteer-run forum with a great level of buy-in and engagement from some of the staff.

[lpoolrob (Rob)]

@Feathers

This is pretty much a sef-perpetuating myth though.

It gets trotted out every few months when someone wants to make a point but I’ve not seen much evidence that these people actually ever existed.

I’m pretty sure that naming them would be classed a personal attack which you, as Coral Crew, would have to deal with. I don’t think it is a myth, I can certainly think of a couple of members on here who have blind faith and who would defend until the end

[anon95680666]

meeeeeee I love …no thats too strong a word … I like most of what Monzo do , its been my main day to day spend bank for getting on for 5 years Ive had quite a lot of money go in and out of it with very very few problems , it does everything I want it to do at the moment , can it improve …yep