Bank of America to slash 30,000 to 35,000 jobs

Bank of America said it expects to cut 30,000 to 35,000 jobs over the next three years, as it faces a deteriorating economic environment and tries to absorb Merrill Lynch.

The final number could be even higher, analysts say. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America said it hasn’t yet completed its analysis for eliminating positions, and won’t until early next year. The company and Merrill have about 308,000 employees in total, and the cuts will affect workers from both companies and all types of businesses.

Bank of America is considered one of the country’s healthier banks, and its decision to slash so many jobs illustrates the breadth of the layoffs hitting the United States. The nation lost more than half a million jobs in November alone, and economists expect many more to come. Bank of America’s action is a particularly hard blow for Charlotte, which is also home to the beleaguered Wachovia Corp, a once strong bank that is now being acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. In what amounts to a fire sale. Just three months ago, when the Merrill Lynch deal was announced, Charlotte was dubbed Wall Street South; now, the banking center is being hit as hard as Wall Street and other towns across America, where people go to work in the morning unsure if they will still have a job that night. The announcement of job cuts at Bank of America was hardly unexpected, considering the merger and the wave of job losses seen in the banking industry and in other sectors over the past few months. Bank of America and Merrill Lynch have already eliminated thousands of investment banking jobs over the past year, as have other banks, in an effort to lower costs as they face increasing defaults in mortgages, credit card debt and other loans.

HSBC lays off 193 staffers in India

Foreign lender HSBC has decided to slash 193 jobs in its Indian consumer assets business segment after reviewing its portfolio in the backdrop of the prevailing economic conditions, the bank said. The bank is restructuring its consumer assets business division in the country and has made "every efforts to redeploy the staff," HSBC said. "Some 620 people have been redeployed in suitable positions in the bank and other group entities in India. The leavers have been placed in the bank's priority returners scheme which will give them first preference for suitable jobs that come up in the next year," it said.

Source: Agencies