The financial services industry saw the highest rate of forced succession in the C-suite. From a CEO perspective that can hardly be surprising, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal, given lower pay packages, increased ownership by the government, and both scrutiny and scorn.
In 2008, the financial services industry saw the highest rate of forced succession of any industry with 18 percent of CEOs pushed out, according to the WSJ.
One irony of the economic crisis is that it shows some institutions are beyond the grasp of any one person at the top while some of the most highly experienced executives, their reputations in tatters, can no longer even be considered for top roles.
Moreover, several candidates have reportedly turned down CEO positions in favor of lower positions at firms that didn’t accept Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds and are therefore beyond the reach of government pay caps.
Overall, the WSJ report concludes, the pool of candidates for succession at financial services firms is shallow.