Prominent Bank Lays Off 325, Hundreds More Expected In Latest Update

CONNECTICUT — To date, the layoffs in Connecticut associated with M&T Bank's takeover of People's United Bank total 325.

That was the amount cited in a response by M&T to Connecticut Attorney General William Tong late last week after the conversion took effect over the Labor Day weekend.

The 325 total was previously cited by M&T as part of the merger. No new notices have been filed with the state Labor Department.

Here are Tong's questions and M&T's responses:

Tong: Of the 747 people initially notified that their employment would be severed, how many remain employed by M&T?

M&T: Of the 747 people notified of severance in July 2021, 422 remain employed by M&T as of the date of this letter. Eighty-nine of the 422 have been hired into a permanent position with M&T. The remaining 333 of those 422 employees have dates in the future when employment is scheduled to be released.

Tong: How many of the 747 notified individuals have been terminated to date?

M&T: Three hundred twenty-five (747 minus 422) of the people notified in July 2021 are no longer employed by M&T. Of these, 110 left on their own prior to their position being eliminated.

Tong: How many people are currently employed in Connecticut?

M&T: Currently, 2,373 people are employed by M&T in Connecticut. This figure includes 333 people, referenced above, who are scheduled to be released in the future (for a net of 2,040).

Tong: How many people are currently employed in Bridgeport?

M&T: Currently, 1,117 people are based out of Bridgeport, including at Bridgeport Center and our branches.

Tong: We have heard complaints that employees who have been retained have been pushed into
lower-pay positions. Please provide any relevant analysis or information to address that concern.

M&T: This information is inaccurate. Nineteen Connecticut employees were offered and subsequently accepted positions that were deemed non-comparable to their positions at People's United where the salary being offered was lower than the salary for the position they held previously. All of these employees had the option of receiving their severance package or accepting the non-comparable position. Those employees chose to stay on with M&T.

Tong: How many positions are currently open and accepting applications within Connecticut?
Please list their job functions (i.e., legal, technology, operations, compliance, project management).

M&T: There are currently 346 openings in Connecticut. In addition, there are over 1,000 other openings across M&T's footprint that are not geographically dependent and are available to Connecticut residents. Job functions open within Connecticut include:

• Banking Services
• Business Banking Commercial

Tong offered a response:

"These numbers are disappointing. Commitments were made to our state and to M&T’s Connecticut workforce, and I don’t believe these numbers live up to that promise, both with regards to total workers retained, and the salaries and positions they have been able to retain. I think M&T CEO Rene Jones, needs to come to Connecticut—to Bridgeport specifically—to address these issues. I've asked for that meeting and I am hoping that can be scheduled soon. I’ve said this before, and I will say this again — I want M&T to succeed. I want this merger to work out. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get there. To date, my office has received over 200 complaints regarding the merger, and we are meeting daily with M&T to resolve these issues. These complaints continue to come in every day. I'm going to stay on top of this until these issues are resolved. I know M&T wants to see these issues resolved as well."

On social media, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. said "Latest layoffs from M&T seem inconsistent with M&T’s commitments in its Peoples takeover. It owes an explanation—real, reliable facts about other jobs available, other possible layoffs, & more. Trust & credibility are evaporating."

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Here is the balance of M&T's letter to Tong:

"We share your goal to do right by your constituents who are also our customers. Our employees, over 2,000 of whom are Connecticut residents, are working hard every day to make this transition as seamless as possible. They are driven to serve their communities, neighbors, friends, and families in the state and beyond.

People's United Integration

"Our entire team has been working diligently to resolve the customer issues that arose as a result of the conversion. Though the vast majority of customers integrated smoothy into our systems, we came up short for those who experienced issues. We recognize that many customers had interruptions in their ability to view and transact with their accounts digitally or online. In light of this, through the end of October, we are waiving M&T consumer checking and savings fees and are not assessing late fees for consumer and mortgage loan payments. Front line branch and call center personnel have also been authorized to waive other fees as appropriate. For customers who were unable to access funds during the conversion, we will provide appropriate financial remuneration. Moving forward, we are committed to, and have already begun, to reimburse customers who incurred fees as a result of late credit card, utility, or other payments.

"Again, we realize many customers had an experience that was not to our standards, and we intend to reach out and apologize to each and every one of them.

"In total, we onboarded nearly 1 million new customers, with over 1.7 million accounts, including over 500,000 in Connecticut. Complaints we have received directly from our customers or otherwise represent approximately 0.6% of the converted customer base as of today. Of course, we recognize that other customers who have not formally complained, might also have been impacted or have issues that we need to address. We are committed to resolving any such remaining issues promptly for all affected customers.

"Indeed, after our meeting with you, we established a formal process to receive and resolve customer issues that come through your office and are updating your staff daily on the status of our responses to those letters.
Currently, all of our systems are up and running and our digital platforms, branches, and call centers are operating at normal levels. We took steps within the first week to improve the customer service experience and to provide our colleagues with the resources and tools they needed to help our customers.

"This included:

• Immediately addressing customer concerns as soon as we were made aware of them;
Extending call center hours;
• Dedicating additional staff to branches requiring support and proactively reaching out to affected customers via phone and email if we suspect they may be having issues

"After our merger agreement announcement in 2021, we began planning in Connecticut in earnest. In addressing some of the concerns raised by you and others at that time, we were able to develop stronger relationships with many elected officials, community leaders, long-time People's United employees, and customers.

"We have already taken meaningful and tangible steps to demonstrate our commitment to Connecticut. We announced large scale community investments, opened a new branch in East Hartford (an underserved community), and launched a small business innovation lab to educate and help 50 diverse entrepreneurs in Bridgeport. We retained 27 Stop and Shop locations that had previously been scheduled by People's United to close. We also support many organizations across the state, including the Spanish American Merchants Association in Hartford, the Black Chamber of Commerce, and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Bridgeport. As the largest non-hospital employer in Bridgeport, M&T named Bridgeport our New England Regional Headquarters and made commitments to employment opportunities in the city.

"We are excited by these and future initiatives throughout the state. Commitment to Connecticut Employees Since we announced our intention to merge with People's United and named the city of Bridgeport our regional headquarters, it has been our intention to maintain significant employment in the city.

"Last year, on July 22, 2021, we notified all People's United Employees of their post-merger employment status. For those who would be affected, we gave each employee significant notice, and an understanding of what benefits would be provided to them.

"During that time, we announced that we would:

• Retain all retail branch customer-facing employees, including traditional branch
employees and employees in Stop and Shop locations and give People's United employees priority consideration for open positions at M&T; and Provide benefits for affected employees ranging from a minimum of 12 weeks' salary up to a maximum of 104 weeks' salary, based on tenure.

"Beginning in the summer of 2021, we also met with officials from Bridgeport and the state of Connecticut to discuss the impact of the merger on the community. Based on valuable input from local leaders, we committed to having at least 1,000 employees based out of our regional headquarters in Bridgeport within the first 12 months following conversion. This makes us the largest non-hospital employer in Bridgeport.

"To meet that commitment, we held both virtual and in-person Career Fairs in August. Another Career Fair is scheduled at Bridgeport Center for October. We will continue to provide status updates to the Connecticut Department of Banking on progress toward our employment goal for September 2023."