City Diaries: "Emma"

"Emma" (not her real name) works in a branch of a large UK bank.

She is writing about the atmosphere in her workplace as she and her colleagues feel the pressure to reach their targets.

Work is so quiet it's eerie

Work is very very quiet, it's a bit eerie really. My colleagues that haven't reached their targets are very worried, not just because business is very slow - well non-existent - but some are seriously seeking other employment. Some are even being 'managed' out (people are looking really hard to find fault with their work etc). I think this is because our bank is being merged with another and will probably end up with a duplicate work force (that's what some of my colleagues are saying). I don't think any of our jobs are safe.

Customers are fed up of being badgered for business, we have to be seen floor-walking most of our time to gain business, but it just is not there. Some of my colleagues are disheartened due to the extra demand to make business. We all have to concentrate extra hard to obtain insurance sales which will generate income but customers are just too scared to change or to increase expenditure at this time. Our bosses just seem to be on top of us more than ever, and their bosses on top of them.

Even the phones are not ringing as much

Walking into work today you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. I have never known the place to be so quiet, yet colleagues tell me they are hitting their targets which have been vastly reduced to compensate the 'credit crunch'.

The few customers who ventured in today were only interested in paying bills, unwilling to enter into conversations. A lot of customers today only wished to open a savings account from which bills were to be paid.

The focus at the moment is on insurance sales to generate commission. There is no humour in the place and hardly any talking amongst colleagues. At this time of year usually parties are being discussed or organised but not this year.

Products have been tightened with no chance of exceeding new recommendations for lending. Large deposits are now required and unless a 25% deposit is available for new lending then the answer is no.

Customers are telling us that job security is the main reason stopping them borrowing or splashing out on purchases as they used to. We are worried about redundancies too. Some of us were laid off a few weeks ago from another department.

Even the phones are not ringing nearly as much as they used to.

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