Tue. December 09, 2008; Posted: 09:49 AM
HIGH POINT, Dec 09, 2008 (High Point Enterprise - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- MER Quote Chart News PowerRating -- Bank of America Corp. hasn't made it clear what, if any, impact that job cuts might have on its High Point-area operations because of a restructuring from its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co.
Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis said last week that the bank is in final stages of analyzing planned job cuts from its purchase of Merrill Lynch. Lewis last week declined to comment on a CNBC report that the bank could eliminate 30,000 jobs as it merges the two companies.
Bank of America has indicated it plans to trim $7 billion, or 10 percent of the combined company's annual expenses, by 2012. Some analysts have extrapolated from the bank's cost-cutting intent that 10 percent of the company's work force could lose their jobs. Bank of America has 247,000 employees, and Merrill has 61,000, meaning that a cut of 10 percent would equal a little more than 30,000 jobs.
The Charlotte-based bank is one of High Point's top private employers through its customer service center in north High Point's Piedmont Centre, where the bank has had approximately 1,800 workers.
A media relations representative told The High Point Enterprise that Bank of America is evaluating staffing levels, given both the pending merger with Merrill Lynch and the weak economic environment affecting the level of business activity.
"While we believe both factors will result in eliminations of positions, we have not completed our analysis. We don't anticipate having a final plan until early in 2009," said spokeswoman Britney Sheehan.
High Point Economic Development Corp. President Loren Hill said that his agency hasn't had discussions with Bank of America about job cuts.
The McClatchy-Tribune News Service contributed to this report.