![]()
- For the Jobless, 10% is Harder Than Before
- Week Ahead: Stocks Search for Catalyst in Quiet Week
- Outlook: Dollar Likely to Ride Higher on Bleak Jobs Report
- Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Says Net Income Tripled
- Cramer: Earnings, IPOs Dominate Next Week
- Buying Fear: How to Own Volatility
- Administration Rejects Plan to Buy Fannie Mae Credits
- Consumers Haven't Changed —They Just Got Pickier
- Want the Homebuyer's Tax Credit? Here Are Some Tips
- Tommy Lee, Medical Tourism and Nasty Santa, Your Emails
- U.S. Markets Gain 3% for the Week Despite 10.2% Unemployment
- Disney's 'Carol' Tests Widest 3-D Release Ever
- Stimulus II? Jobs Tax Credit=Cash For Clunkers
- Rockwell Automation Earnings: What Options Are Saying
- Gold Will Touch Higher Lows and Higher Highs: Analyst
- Is Misery Alive And Well in Your Office?
- Consumers Haven't Changed, They Are Just Pickier
- Watch Foreclosures, Seriously
Bank of America could end up cutting 30,000 jobs as it moves to absorb Merrill Lynch, three times as many as previously estimated, sources told CNBC.
![]() |
As of yesterday, sources were saying that layoffs could total at least 10,000 and would start before the end of the year.
But Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis wants to wring out $7 billion in savings from the merger over the next few years, so the total number of jobs lost could be closer to 30,000, they said.
Some of these job cuts could be through attrition or the sale of some businesses. But the heaviest cuts will probably come in the investment banking business, which has dried up during the current credit crisis.
Combined, Bank of America [BAC
Loading...
()
] and Merrill [MER
Loading...
()
] would have 260,000 employees. About 50,000 are in the banks' investment banking operations. The majority of the layoffs are likely to come from Merrill's side of the business.
Watch Gasparino's report.
The move comes amid very tough times for the banking sector. With the declining market and tight credit picture, profits are under intense pressure. And traditional work in the initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions business has dried up.
Bank of America, the country's largest mortgage lender and one of the biggest credit card issuers, cut its dividend in half in October after rising credit losses contributed to a 68 percent decline in third-quarter profit.
The bank has already raised more than $22 billion in capital this year and is getting $25 billion from the $700 federal bailout program.
—Reuters contributed to this report.
- Rumors abound that Oprah will leave her show to start a new network. What would this mean for daytime TV?
- Berkeley's Chez Panisse and the trend of eating locally grown, pesticide-free seasonal foods.
- Cramer did the research and found eight stocks that lead the pack. Read on to get his top picks.
- Did Hideki Matsui’s performance make it more likely that the Yankees will pay to have him back?
- Which wines should you bring—or serve—with holiday meals this year? Ask a connoisseur.
- Two competitors in this year’s World Series of Poker in Las Vegas have stories fit for Hollywood.













