Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Embattled Bank of America to Slash 30,000 Jobs

Alexander Osipovich


Bank of America said on Monday it would cut around 30,000 jobs as part of a sweeping plan to slash $5 billion in costs and restore investor confidence in the beleaguered US banking giant. The job cuts, which represent just over 10 percent of BofA's workforce, will be carried out "over the next few years", the bank said in a statement. Notably, the announcement came the same morning that US President Barack Obama demanded that Congress pass his $447 billion jobs bill, aimed at reducing the country's stubbornly high 9.1 percent unemployment rate. The elimination of 30,000 jobs at Bank of America was the largest layoff announcement by a US employer this year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a consultancy, which tracks the US labor market.

BofA also sold off its Canadian credit-card unit in August and said it would exit the credit-card business in Britain and Ireland. Bank of America posted a $9.1 billion loss in the second quarter, mostly due to an $8.5 billion settlement to resolve claims stemming from its issuance of mortgage-backed securities that went bad during the financial crisis. The bank continues to be weighed down by its 2008 acquisition of Countrywide Financial, a mortgage firm whose dubious lending practices have brought Bank of America numerous lawsuits and huge legal costs.

2 comments:

  1. now if BofA would just collectively slash its own throat...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hope they go under.

    ReplyDelete

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