NEW YORK — Bank of America Corp. said Thursday that 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 & Co.
The final number could be even higher, analysts say. Charlotte, N.C.-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 total, and the cuts will affect workers from both companies and all types of businesses.
Bank of America, which declined to provide a local breakout, doesn’t maintain a retail banking presence in Colorado, other than through automated teller machines. Employees of subsidiaries Merrill Lynch and Countrywide are present here.
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, 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 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.
Thursday’s announcement of job cuts at Bank of America was hardly unexpected, considering the merger and the wave of job losses in the banking industry over the past few months. Bank of America and Merrill Lynch have already eliminated thousands of investment-banking jobs this year in an effort to lower costs.
