JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon's full court press to place axed Bear Stearns employees

Maybe it's so axed Bear Stearns employees won't talk shit about JP Morgan or so that they can minimize the costs of employee payoffs, but Jamie Dimon is putting on a full court press to get other Wall Street firms to hire fired Bear people.

In letters to more than 30 of JPMorgan’s clients, rivals and suppliers, Mr Dimon urged them to hire some of the 5,000-plus Bear employees who will not have a job after the takeover closes next month.

“We would like to connect you with some highly skilled professionals who may not have roles at our company but who may be a great fit for open positions at yours,” says one of the letters.

Named Talent Network, the plan is unprecedented in a US financial industry that has built a deserved reputation for over-hiring in boom times and ruthless firing in bust years.

By asking more than 1,800 companies and scores of headhunters to provide them with the list of vacancies, JPMorgan executives hope to be able to find jobs for at least 2,500 of the 5,000 redundant Bear employees.

In the words of Maureen Osborne, the senior JPMorgan executive who has day-to-day responsibility for the Talent Network, “it sends a strong message about the kind of company that we are.

“We really believe that there is a lot of good talent at Bear and it is the right thing to do to help them find positions inside and outside the company,” she added.

Dimon puts a word in for Bear casualties - Financial Times