When I started my communications career, I was a minion in the marketing department of Georgia's largest savings and loan institution. For those of you old enough to remember, the late 80s was not the time to be in the savings and loan industry. Though our institution was strong, scores of others throughout the country were not, and they failed by the dozens while that industry faltered.
I was the PR guy at the time, responsible for both internal communications and doing some of the external stuff. Our phones constantly rang about our bank's health and financial stability. And on each call, we tried to reassure customers and depositors that we were healthy and strong, despite all the chaos going on around us. Which was the truth. We were, thanks to a great leadership team that made prudent and tough decisions.
Atlanta, at the time, was the center of banking for the Southeast. But as the S&L crisis widened and the banking industry in general consolidated, many of the Atlanta-based banks were snapped up by other banks, mostly from Charlotte. First Union and Wachovia were the two biggest ones doing most of the acquiring. Forget the S&L chaos: we mostly worked in fear of a buyout from a Charlotte bank, assuming that most of our corporate jobs would be lost as the work transferred to the new bank's headquarters in North Carolina. We even had nicknames for these big banks. First Union was simply FU. And Wachovia was known as Walkoverya. Who would be the one to march in and take us down?
First Union ultimately won the contest, scoring an acquisition from our holding company that completed a very tidy investment for them. The headquarters in Atlanta was dismantled and a few of my friends moved to Charlotte to continue their jobs there. Most, though, were out of a job in an industry that was shrinking in Atlanta by the day. By the time the dust settled some years later, SunTrust was the only big Atlanta bank from those days left standing on its own. I was lucky enough to land a PR job at a software company, which was becoming the new growth industry for Atlanta. But I've never forgotten those days at the bank, where you spent each day defending the bank to its customers while wondering if your job was safe. It was tough duty. Where's your loyalty: with the bank or with yourself? It was a lot for a kid out of college to try and come to terms with.
All those emotions and that experience came flooding back recently with all the turmoil in our financial markets, especially after Wachovia itself failed and is being parceled out to Citigroup Wells Fargo. I feel for those employees because I've been in their shoes. You work hard to make the place a nice place to make a living and then, mostly through the greed of others, the whole place falters and you're left pretty much holding the bag. It's like some cruel adult version of musical chairs, where everyone races around to find a safe haven after the party music stops. The CEO issued a letter to Wachovia employees today with an update on where things stand. You might find it worthwhile reading to get a sense of how these things unfold internally.
These are unprecedented times, in my estimation. Yes, the S&L meltdown crisis was wider and deeper by comparison. But it seemed to be contained within that industry. This crisis is impacting things all over. Couple that with gas prices/shortages, skyrocketing food prices, a healthcare system out of control and general malaise throughout the world's economy, it's a wonder anyone gets any rest at night.
I believe things will get tighter before they get better. And we'll have to continue to weather some mighty tough times. But things will get better eventually. They always do.
The trick is to not have someone Walkoverya until they do.
