How to deal with IT staff in a merger

There's a lot of critical post-merger integration work underway right now: Wells Fargo-Wachovia, JPMorgan-Washington Mutual, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Bank of America-Countrywide. The success of these projects, in many ways, boils down to the IT work. If you promised shareholders scale efficiencies, you can get it mainly by layoffs and IT work, and we've seen a lot of layoffs already. 

Bank Systems & Technology notes that management would be wise not to cut IT staff willy-nilly. There will have to be some cuts obviously. But who? The question can be tricky to answer, complicated by key IT staff bolting in anticipation of layoffs. The best course for management is identify key IT personnel early and put retention measures in place. The use of bonuses is a time-honored strategy. It backfired when it came to AIG derivatives traders, but would be a lot less controversial when it comes to IT managers; the bonuses would likely be lower. 

For more:
- here's the article

Related Articles:
What to make of the merger market?
Morgan Stanley tops M&A table
Wells Fargo, Wachovia agree to merge
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, a bogus deal?