Bank of America layoffs to hit 30,000

US banking giant Bank of America is mulling boosting its layoffs to 30,000, triple what was already in the works, the Charlotte Observer, the newspaper of the bank's hometown, said Friday. That would mean slashing more than 10 percent of its workforce, the Observer said, citing unnamed sources in the country's largest bank.
"The Charlotte-based bank could potentially shed 25,000 to 30,000 jobs over several years, the sources said," according to the report. "Executives are still working on final plans." The bank has been pummelled with losses from the 2007-2009 financial crisis and has recently been hit with a series of multibillion dollar lawsuits relating to dodgy mortgage-backed securities issued by its subsidiaries, Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch.
Amid rumours that it had serious capital deficiency problems, last week it announced a $5 billion injection from investment giant Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, and on Monday it said was selling half of its 10 percent stake in China Construction Bank to raise about $8.3 billion in cash.