Old News - Fidelity Investments cuts 550 jobs

I meant to post on this a few weeks ago - AP is reporting (via Yahoo! Finance) that Fidelity is cutting 550 jobs, or nearly 1% of its workforce. While this is not a huge number by any standards, what caught my eye about this tiny news item was this:

The nation's largest mutual fund company said the cuts are largely concentrated in the firm's personal and workplace investing operations that oversee other companies' pensions and 401(k) plans.

Alright, so another 500 or so retirement professionals are out looking for jobs now. Also, on a related note to benefits job-seekers: forget looking for jobs in the Northeast corridor for the next several months until the excess supply "inventory" of benefits professionals in reabsorbed back into employment:

Crowley [Fidelity Spokesperson] said the latest round of cuts included 70 jobs in Massachusetts, where Fidelity employs more than 12,000. The rest of the cuts are at various Fidelity locations nationwide -- including a Merrimack, N.H. office where Fidelity employs about 5,700 -- and overseas.

Steady now, 'ere she comes :

Lawson [Fidelity President] wrote [in a memo last fall] that Fidelity "must curb expenses where they are wasteful, not only to avoid waste, but to compete -- and win -- against some very tough rivals in an unforgiving marketplace."