Human-resource experts say that many displaced white-collar employees should be looking for new work at smaller companies that are growing.

Instead, he worried about finding homes for displaced employees and getting the bank's own small network of A.T.M.'s working.

But the "creative destruction" of outmoded industries is happening too quickly for all the displaced employees to be re-absorbed.

Apartments in Baton Rouge for displaced employees cost thousands of dollars a month.

She said Citibank would try to place the other displaced employees in jobs elsewhere in the organization.

Dr. Hall said the district was creating a career center to help displaced employees file for unemployment benefits and look for new jobs.

For much of the last decade, jobs were so plentiful that many displaced employees found new work quickly, without submitting claims for benefits.

The company said most of the displaced employees would be assigned to the operating companies, but layoffs are possible.

At no time did the company dream it would become more than temporarily homeless itself, and have to determine what to do with thousands of displaced employees.

The protections, she said, include a chance for displaced employees to take another university job, be retrained or be offered a severance package.