[Occupymendocino] B of A Lays Off 3500

[Richard Karch]

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_18716490





Bank of America to lay off 3,500 workers

By Christina Rexrode
Associated Press
Posted:   08/19/2011 08:08:25 AM PDT
Updated:   08/19/2011 09:12:09 PM PDT

NEW YORK -- Bank of America is cutting 3,500 jobs, the latest sign that the banking industry is becoming smaller, simpler and less profitable.
It's quite a transformation from the go-go days of five or six years ago. Then, big banks were reaping outsize profits from large bets on risky trading and complicated investments that eventually backfired, fueling the financial crisis that scorched them and the global economy in 2008.
The cuts confirmed Friday by Bank of America follow layoffs announced this summer at Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon, State Street and other financial institutions.
And though banks also laid off thousands of workers in 2008 and 2009, analysts say it's different this time: Many of the banks are posting profits right now, so their layoffs indicate permanent structural changes rather than temporary cuts in response to a weak economy.
Overall, analysts say, the industry is shrinking after years of growing too big, too fast.
U.S. banks employ about 2.09 million people, down from 2.21 million in early 2008, according to data compiled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The average salary in the finance and insurance industry was $84,516 last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Though that's far higher than the overall private-sector average of $46,451, the finance salaries are shrinking while other salaries are growing...



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