BofA job-cut total coming 'soon': Lewis says bank is in ?final stage' of reviewing how many positions it will need after Merrill Lynch merger.

Dec 04, 2008 (The Charlotte Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- MER | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Bank of America Corp. chief executive Ken Lewis said Wednesday the Charlotte bank is in the "final stage of our analysis" for planned job reductions in its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co.

"We'll have something pretty soon," he told the Observer before the Charlotte Chamber's annual economic conference. A spokesman put it at "early in 2009."

Lewis declined to comment on a CNBC report that said the bank could eliminate 30,000 jobs as it merges the two companies. Earlier in the week, CNBC reported that 10,000 job cuts were expected, citing unnamed sources.

Bank of America plans to trim $7 billion, or 10 percent of the combined company's annual expenses, by 2012. Some analysts have said this means that 10 percent of workers could lose their jobs. Bank of America has 247,000 employees and Merrill has 61,000, so cutting 10 percent would equal about 30,000 jobs.

This time around, Bank of America's brokerage unit could be particularly vulnerable, some analysts say. Merrill's famous "thundering herd" of almost 17,000 financial advisers is a main driver in Bank of America's decision to buy the Wall Street firm. Bank of America's own brokerage unit, with about 2,000 advisers, "is not anywhere near as well positioned," said Alois Pirker, an analyst at the Aite Group.

"Merrill Lynch is a well-oiled machine, and Bank of America's (brokerage unit) has not really reached the level Merrill has," Pirker added.

This week, Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri said the bank is evaluating staffing levels, "given both the pending merger with Merrill Lynch and the weak economic environment which is affecting the level of business activity.

"While we believe both factors will result in eliminations of positions, we have not completed our analysis. We expect to have a final plan early in 2009."

Joe Price, Bank of America's chief financial officer, has said the bank would achieve some of the $7 billion in savings by negotiating better deals with vendors and combining office space. But he has also said he expects head count reductions at both companies, particularly in back-office and support functions and overlapping roles. "We do intend to be very aggressive on the cost side," Price said when the deal was announced in September.

In Detroit last month, Lewis said he expects "significant" job cuts to result from the Merrill deal but declined to offer a number.

Bank of America's wealth and investment management division, which includes mutual funds and brokerage, is based in Boston, though the financial advisers are across the country. It has back-office operations spread across three major locations: Charlotte, New York and Rhode Island. Merrill has back-office operations in Hopewell, N.J.

John Thain, who is currently Merrill's CEO, will lead the combined wealth management and investment banking units. He will continue to be based in New York. Thain said in October that he expects "thousands" of job losses at both companies as a result of the merger.

Bank of America has about 15,000 Charlotte employees, making it the area's third-largest employer behind Carolinas HealthCare and Wachovia Corp.

Consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimates that employers have cut more than 1 million jobs since the beginning of the year, including 220,000 in the financial sector. The auto and retail industries have also had significant job cuts.

Staff writer Rick Rothacker contributed.

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