Eight Percent Is Enough

It should come as no surprise that we initiated another round of layoffs today. Approximately 8% of our employees have been let go, not coincidentally on our final day in the old office.

I said this the other day - every time the TRex money pit starts requiring more cash, employees are let go. Here we are on moving day, and sure enough, we've lost more people.

There's a full transcript of the memo that was sent to us detailing the reasons behind the layoffs in the comments section of the post underneath this one.

For all of you who have received the axe today, I strongly encourage you to do the following before signing your separation agreements:

• Gain a full understanding of your rights as a terminated employee, including the WARN Act
• Get a due date for FNLC to send you your final severance package and COBRA info
• Make sure your 401K contributions will be honored
• Demand full documentation of your final payments, including all deductions
• Make note of when your health benefits expire

Anyhow, now you know how FNLC can pay for TRex. I wonder what will happen when next month's rent is due?

Moving Day Is Almost Here!

We'll be moving our stuff tomorrow to the new office. As a commenter mentioned earlier, it would be a prudent idea to separate your personal belongings from your FNLC office materials when you pack your boxes. I have a feeling there will be several people who won't make it to the new building before getting laid off.

Some people have asked "how can we afford this?" Well, we've been "affording" this for several months already. The new offices have been a money pit, and every time the company needs to find some more cash, they do another round of layoffs. You can sense that moving into TRex is the only goal for certain members of the senior exec team. They figure that, if they are moving into new facilities, the company will appear to be successful and that they have done their job by "DOING WHAT IS REQUIRED." Unfortunately for these narrow-minded and myopic fools, most rational thinkers don't judge a company by their office buildings - they judge it by the amount of money it makes (or, in our case, loses).

Get ready for a deluge of self-congratulatory press releases about this move. It should be the last thing you hear about us until our rumoured sale in a couple of weeks. Afterwards, TRex becomes somebody else's problem.

Caveat Emptor.

FNLC Still On The Block

Now that our parent company, FBR, has generated well-needed funds by spinning off some assets and creating a new company (FBR Capital), it appears that they can get back to the task at hand: dumping First NLC to anybody foolish enough to actually pay for this financial burden:

"Friedman, Billings, Ramsey has been busy raising cash after struggling with its subprime home-mortgage business. The sector has been ravaged by defaults on such loans, which target borrowers with weak credit histories, and FBR has been seeking a buyer for its subprime lending unit, First NLC Financial Services.

"Shares of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey have dropped more than 30 percent since late July, when it reported a quarterly loss of $30.2 million. It has reported losses in three of the past four quarters."

I'd love to hear FBR's sales pitch to potential buyers ...

A Final Insult

I've received news that some former employees who were laid off this past spring DID NOT receive their company contributions when they rolled over their First NLC 401K accounts although they were clearly eligible and enrolled in this program.

As mentioned earlier on this blog, First NLC retains the right to decide if they want to contribute to any employee's 401K program, regardless of their tenure or status. Just because you have been with the company over a year does not mean you are going to get your funds matched. Daddy and Junior may decide you aren't worthy of this "generous" gift (for the record, FNLC has the lowest matching contribution percentage of any company I've ever worked for, especially considering that we are owned and operated by a financial institution).

I urge all current employees to confirm that they are receiving the matched contributions they may be eligible for. Don't take for granted that this company is going to do right by you. "Doing what is required" means doing what's best for a select few members of the executive management team and to hell with anybody who stands in their way of lining their pockets with a few extra bucks.

This is typical First NLC policy and procedure: take something that is commonly accepted, and twist it around so it works only in the company's favor while disguising it with fine print, murky documentation and unanswered questions. This is just another example of how this company preys upon the goodwill and intentions of its employees by twisting a knife into their backs whenever it becomes convenient.