Exchange updates put jobs at risk

NEW YORK – When the Dow Jones industrials crossed 12,000 for the first time this past week, many of the people on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange were probably wondering if they’d be around to see the blue chips’ next 1,000-point milestone.

Brokerages and specialist companies including Credit Suisse Group, LaBranche & Co. and others have begun to let staff go as the NYSE implements an electronic trading system that allows more automated transactions and reduces the need for humans on the exchange’s famed trading floor.

The new technology is part of the Big Board’s renaissance designed to make the exchange more competitive with the Nasdaq and other all-electronic markets.

“We’ve known for a while that there would be fewer people on the floor, and there are some of us that say there is going to be nobody left,” said Steve Porpora, managing director of floor operations for securities company William O’Neil & Co. “I have faith, like with every other bit of new technology, we’ll be able to do our jobs quicker and better.”

By Friday, some 80 NYSE-listed securities were handled through the new system, and all the exchange’s 2,700 companies are expected to be online in December. The implementation of the system coincides with the NYSE’s need to comply with new Securities and Exchange Commission rules that require exchanges to become more competitive in executing trades.