Morgan Stanley Company Description

One of the world's top investment banks, Morgan Stanley serves up a whole smorgasbord of financial services. The company divides its operations into three primary business segments: institutional securities (capital raising, corporate lending, financial advisory services for corporate and institutional investors); global wealth management group (brokerage and investment advisory services, financial planning for individual investors and businesses); and asset management (asset management services and products including alternative investments, equity, fixed income; merchant banking; investment activities). Morgan Stanley has some $782 billion in assets under management.

Mass Layoffs Updates for May 21, 2008

Morgan Stanley of New York has announced intentions to lay off approximately 5 percent of its employees this year. According to a report by the New York Times, most of the layoffs will be in the United States. Workers at the company's retail brokerage firm will not be affected by the layoffs. Morgan Stanley has laid off 3,000 workers since October and as of the end of February 2008 had just over 47,000 employees. With the exclusion of approximately 8,500 financial advisers in the wealth management division, a 5 percent workforce reduction would equal approximately 2,000 layoffs.
Downsizing means to reduce in number or size. A corporation downsized its personnel in response to a poor economy. In a business enterprise, downsizing is reducing the number of employees on the operating payroll. Some users distinguish downsizing from a layoff , with downsizing intended to be a permanent downscaling and a layoff intended to be a temporary downscaling in which employees may later be rehired. Businesses use several techniques in downsizing, including providing incentives to take early retirement and transfer to subsidiary companies, but the most common technique is to simply terminate the employment of a certain number of people.

Sources:http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci759501,00.htmlhttp://warnlawyers.com/http://www.totalbankruptcy.com/mass_layoffs_across_us_middle_atlantic.htmhttp://www.hoovers.com/morgan-stanley/--ID__15970--/free-co-profile.xhtml