LEHMAN Brothers is cutting roughly 1300 positions globally, or nearly 5 per cent of its work force, amid difficult market conditions, a person briefed on the matter said overnight, with almost 60,000 jobs to be lost in New York City.
The latest cuts are in addition to Lehman`s layoffs of more than 5000 people since mid-2007.
Lehman declined to comment.
Wall Street companies are reducing staffing levels as the broadening credit crunch cuts into its businesses, including security underwriting and mergers advice.
UBS said earlier this month it would slash 5500 jobs, reducing its work force by another 7 per cent.
Jobs to go in New York
Slowing economic growth could cost New York City 59,400 jobs between now and the middle of next year, with the financial sector the "epicenter" of the downturn, a report said overnight.
That amounts to one quarter of the hiring by private employers after the 2001 recession, according to the city`s Independent Budget Office.
Although the data are still too ambiguous to determine whether New York City is already in a recession, the report said the "Independent Budget Office is forecasting that a local recession is imminent, if it has not begun already." No recovery was seen until the second half of 2009.
Each job on Wall Street creates another two to three jobs in other industries, from law firms to restaurants. And Wall Street employees earn about 35 per cent of all salaries and wages in the city of more than 8 million people.
Wall Street employment peaked at 200,300 in December 2000, and despite the last expansion, many companies permanently shifted workers outside the city in the wake of the September 11 attacks. The city had 182,300 people working for banks and brokerages at the end of March.
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