Bank of America to cut up to 35,000 jobs

[Newsjock]

Source: MarketWatch

Bank of America said late Thursday that it plans to cut up to 35,000 jobs over the next three years as the giant lender adjusts to a recession and completes the pending acquisition of brokerage firm Merrill Lynch.

The cuts will come from both companies and affect all lines of business and staff units, Bank of America explained.

"The reductions are designed to eliminate redundancies created as a result of the merger with Merrill Lynch and to reflect the current recessionary environment," the bank said in a statement. The weak economy "is affecting the level of business activity," it added.

... Bank of America's reductions represent one of the largest rounds of layoffs in the history of the financial-services industry. Citigroup said last month that it plans to cut about 50,000 staff.

Read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Bank-America-cut-up-35000/story.aspx?guid=%7B3BE563B5-082C-444B-BCA0-8122FC013047%7D

---

Press release here:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/bank-of-america-plans-to-reduce-work-force,653408.shtml

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America Corporation is working on a plan to eliminate a significant number of positions over the next three years reflecting the pending merger with Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. and the weak economic environment, which is affecting the level of business activity.

While both factors will result in the elimination of positions, the company has not completed its analysis. Bank of America expects to have a final plan early in 2009 and estimates it will project the reduction of approximately 30,000 to 35,000 positions over the next three years. A final number will not be determined until early 2009.

The reductions are coming from both companies and affect all lines of business and staff units. Details as to specific reductions in communities or by business line have not been determined. As many reductions as possible will be made through attrition. Severance and other benefits will be provided for those associates whose jobs are eliminated and who cannot be offered another position.

[Turbineguy]

1. Maybe they'll put

my Niece out of her misery. The Manager at her branch is a complete asshole.

[specimenfred1984]

2. Whatever it takes to preserve those $39 late fees

Screw the workers, they are just numbers in a fascist and corrupt game of crime.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

3. I wonder if they'll axe my aunt.

[OhioChick]

4. And the hemorrhaging continues..... n/t

[SOS]

5. A modest proposal: Nationalize Bank of America for two years

Remove and arrest all top management.
Keep the workers.

Current market cap for the whole damn thing is only $68B.
Don't bail out the crooks, buy the bank.
Reorganize the bank, break it up and sell the new, smaller banks back to private investors in 2011.
The criminal parasites go to jail, the workers keep their jobs and the tax payer would (likely) make a nice profit on the sale of the new entities.

[slackmaster]

6. Yes, they wouldn't even have to change its name

:nuke:

[craiga86]

7. Dumbest Effin idea ever

Are you still mad that BoA didn't extend loans to a company who was plotting a move to Iowa and whom the corrupt Illinois governor came in to defend? Move along...

[NeoConsSuck]

12. And why is it dumb?

As far as I'm concerned, if a bank is too large to fail, then it is too damn large to exist. Break it up.

How many lives have these banks ruined because of their fucking greed? Millions unemployed because of these 'too large to fail' banks.

How long are we going to allow these 'too large to fail' banks hold global economies hostage?

[SOS]

18. Of course the workers deserve support

But these come to mind as well...

Bank of America Liable in Securities Fraud
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/business/06bank.html

Greedy Bank of America Engineers "Fake Rescue" in Sub-Prime Fire Sale
http://www.alternet.org/story/73733/

and these charming acquisitions and business practices:

Account closures without warning
Excessive overdraft fees
MBNA malicious business practices
Countrywide fraud
Missing computer tapes - "Bank of America lost computer tapes containing information on as many as 1.2 million federal employees."
Offsetting Social Security benefits - "Bank of America acted illegally"
Parmalat bankruptcy -Parmalat held nearly $5B in assets with Bank of America. The bank denied the existence of such an account.
Secured credit card program - Bank of America's policy specifically targets immigrants.

[Dreamer Tatum]

13. Arrest top management?

Can you please present the evidence that ONE, let alone ALL, of executive management needs to be JAILED?

Jail is for people who commit crimes, not for people whose existence happens to irritate you.

[SOS]

14. Google "Bank of America" and "fraud"

nt

[craiga86]

17. What's your point??

Google Barack Obama and Birth Certificate. Exactly....that means nothing.

[SOS]

19. See post 18

nt

[craiga86]

16. Exactly

Ken Lewis - CEO - was actually one out of several CEOs who stood up and said we don't need these golden parachute clauses to pass this bailout plan. He was the least greedy CEO out there and his salary compared to other companies is very modest. But hey - Big Bank = Don't like = Must go. GROW UP people.

[nichomachus]

8. So bailing out the banks didn't save jobs

This is what worries me about the argument that bailing out the auto companies will save auto workers' jobs. We should get some guarantees that the CEOs and other bigwigs aren't going to stuff the money in their shorts and screw the workers anyway -- like the bankers did.

[craiga86]

15. This is generally something that occurs with MERGERs

Bank of America merged with Merril. They didn't receive any assistance to purchase Merril at 50 Billion when they were expected to collapse the very next day after they bought them. When mergers happen, you have to trim around the edges. Just be glad all 60-70k workers at Merril won't be out there looking for jobs.

I swear there's an inclination to just hate Banks with absolutely no sound reason.

[nichomachus]

21. No reason to hate banks?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Pale Blue Dot]

9. Bank of America to Cut 30,000 to 35,000 Positions

Source: Bloomberg.com

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp., the third- largest U.S. bank, said it plans to cut 30,000 to 35,000 positions over the next three years because of its acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. and the weak economic environment.

The final number of job cuts won’t be decided until early next year, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank said in a statement today. The companies together employ 307,000 people, including about 60,000 at New York-based Merrill Lynch. Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri said the “vast majority” of job cuts will come next year.

All lines of businesses and staff units will be affected, and “as many reductions as possible” will be made through attrition, Bank of America said. The companies have already begun dismissing equity analysts, according to a person briefed on the changes.

“They are saying that even though we’ve got the best efficiency of any large bank holding company, we still have extra costs,” said Christopher Whalen, managing director of Institutional Risk Analytics, a market-research firm. “They still have to throw more stuff out of the boat because they have to stay afloat.”

Bank of America is the latest firm to announce a workforce reduction amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Citigroup Inc. is planning to eliminate 52,000 jobs in the next year.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aswiJZGC2Ca8&refer=home

[lib2DaBone]

10. Would the last one out of the United States.. Please shut off the lights on your way out...

[napi21]

11. I don't want this to sound insensitive, but B of A bourhg, took over, or

merged with several banks and financial institutions. Duplication of efforts always occurs when two businesses become one. I wouldn't kinow where to begin to find out how many people that behemoth now employs, and although 35,000 people is a hugh number, I bet is a fairly small % of all the people employed by B of A. They said this reduction would be over the next 3 years, and I truly hope all those people have offers of better jobs somewhere else.

[davidinalameda]

20. I'm switching my accounts to a credit union

I don't care if my accounts are FDIC insured

I don't trust these bastards

[bikebloke]

22. I wonder how many relatives and cronies will get the axe.

I worked for them once upon a time. It was infested with nepots and cronies collecting free pay checks without working. The rest of us lowly workers pulled their slack, while they pulled in big salaries (and bragged about it) and all sorts of benefits (of which, we received none).