Bank of America To Cut Up to 10% of Workforce

And the layoff announcements continue. This week Bank of America is estimating it will cut up to 35,000 jobs over the next three years.

The firm cautioned that the final layoff number wouldn’t be clear until the first quarter of 2009, when most of the layoffs are slated to begin.

This latest round of layoffs are related to the firm’s pending acquisition of Merrill Lynch as well as the economic crisis. The 35,000 layoffs would amount to approximately 10 percent of the combined firm’s workforce.

According to a statement by the firm, “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.”

Bank of America had previously laid off 7,500 employees over the summer following its acquisition of Countrywide.