Bank Of America To Cut Thousands Of Jobs This Quarter

CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — Bank of America is cutting 3,500 employees this quarter, but it's unclear how many of those job cuts will come in Charlotte.

WATCH: Bank Of America To Cut Thousands Of Jobs This Quarter

There are national reports suggesting that Bank of America will make even more cuts. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the situation, reported that the bank is working on restructuring plans that will ax several thousand more jobs.

The reports Friday said that the job cuts at the biggest U.S. bank by assets might exceed 10,000, or about 3.5 percent of its current workforce.

Bank of America won't confirm that, or answer the biggest question on the minds of many people in Charlotte.

"What we don't know is where those job cuts may come from," said Dr. Harry Bowen with the McColl School of Business.

Bowen said layoffs in the bank's troubled mortgage business will likely hit BofA employees in California hardest. While cuts in retail banking are more likely to hit Charlotte, he said, he likes Charlotte's chances.

"To the extent that retail and back office operation are taking place in Charlotte, Charlotte is less likely to suffer in a relative sense," he said.

There's still plenty of uncertainty about the potential effect of BofA layoffs. Channel 9 asked the Chamber of Commerce, and it said it "doesn't know yet what the impact will be."

But Sheryl Findlan has an idea. She's already looking for work, and dreads having thousands of newly unemployed people competing for jobs, too.

"To have to compete with those numbers of jobs that already aren't available -- I think it needs to be a real concern for Charlotte," she said.

The retrenchments are part of CEO Brian Moynihan's efforts to engineer a recovery at BofA, which was hit hard by the bursting of the housing bubble. Its share price has fallen nearly 50 percent so far this year.

Many other banks and financial institutions are also cutting staff. They are under pressure to improve returns to investors amid a weak U.S. economy and new restrictions on lucrative trading and banking activities that were blamed for contributing to the 2008 financial crisis.

Bank of America's Recent Earnings Statements: 2Q11 Earnings Report (PDF) Supplemental Report (PDF) BofA Press Release On Earnings

Previous Stories: August 10, 2011: Bank Concerns Linger As Markets Swing August 9, 2011: Moynihan To BofA: 'Our Course Is Set'

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