Layoffs Watch '11: Bank Of America Was Just Kidding About Laying Off 10,000 Employees
Oh, did someone say 10,000? That's embarrassing. Number is actually more like 40,000.
Bank of America Corp. officials have discussed eliminating roughly 40,000 positions during the first wave of a restructuring that Chief Executive Brian Moynihan is expected to discuss Monday, said people familiar with the plans. The numbers aren't final and could change. The restructuring would reduce the bank's work force over a period of years. In fact, Mr. Moynihan may not discuss a job-cut number during next week's presentation at the Barclays Capital 2011 Global Financial Services Conference in New York.
The planned personnel reductions at the largest U.S. lender by assets are part of an overhaul known as "Project New BAC," after the Charlotte, N.C., bank's ticker symbol. The 51-year-old Mr. Moynihan is trying to bolster profits amid concerns about Bank of America's exposure to the slowing U.S. economy and a slew of mortgage-related losses and lawsuits...With Project New BAC, the bank hopes to make a strong statement to Wall Street about its commitment to getting leaner, these people said. Rivals such as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the second-largest lender in the U.S., operate with far fewer people.
Anyway, sorry for the mix-up! You know how it is. Glad we're all on the same page now.
BofA Cutbacks May Hit 40,000 [WSJ]
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Layoffs Watch '12: Bank Of America
Project New BAC continues, only now that it's worked out some of the initial kinks, management is going to fire people a lot faster that before. Chief Executive Officer Brian T. Moynihan, 52, is relying on expense cuts to improve profit as mortgage losses and regulation squeeze revenue. The earlier phase of his efficiency plan, called Project New BAC, targeted $5 billion in costs and 30,000 jobs...The lender had 275,460 employees at June 30, compared with 278,688 on March 31 and about 288,000 at the end of last year's second quarter. The number of banking centers in the U.S. fell by 148 in the 12 months ended June 30 to 5,594...The new round of cost cuts will come at a faster rate than the first phase, Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson said today on the call. The $3 billion in savings will probably be realized at about $1 billion per year, he said. Moynihan told employees in January that he expected Project New BAC to eliminate a total of $6 billion to $8 billion a year in expenses, Bloomberg News reported. The bank said today it's on track to realize $1 billion of the cost savings from the first phase by the end of this year. [Bloomberg]
More cuts are expected at the House of Moynihan this week. "Project New BAC axe is rumored to be coming out tomorrow. Expecting major headcount reduction in Equity Sales + Trading amongst other things."
Layoffs Watch '11: BAC
Project New BAC continues at apace. "Cuts going down this morning in all areas of BofA equities. MDs and directors so far."