Morgan Stanley to Reduce Headcount by 5% in 2008

[OhioChick]

May 5 (Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest U.S. securities firm, plans to reduce headcount as much as 5 percent in the next few months after bets on subprime mortgages saddled the bank with a $3.6 billion fourth-quarter loss.

Mark Lake, a spokesman for New York-based Morgan Stanley, confirmed the job cuts, which will come mainly in the U.S. and won't affect the firm's retail business. Morgan Stanley, which employs about 47,000 people, has already shed at least 3,000 jobs since October.

The world's biggest banks and securities firms have cut at least 50,000 jobs in the past year after writedowns and credit losses from the collapse of the subprime mortgage market totaling more than $300 billion. About 100,000 jobs may vanish by the time the current round of cuts runs its course, according to analysts including Jo Bennett, a partner at executive search firm Battalia Winston International.

UBS AG, Switzerland's biggest bank, may eliminate as many as 8,000 jobs as it grapples with credit writedowns and a 12 billion-franc ($11.4 billion) first-quarter loss. The Zurich- based lender is set to spell out plans for layoffs when it details its financial results tomorrow. The company will probably say it's cutting 2,500 to 3,000 jobs in its investment bank, more than 10 percent of the division, two people familiar with the matter said May 2.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aH3O241QVhbw&refer=us