Bank of America to cut 16,000 jobs

As part of a restructuring effort, Bank of America will slash 16,000 jobs. After the cuts the banking giant will no longer be the largest banking employer in the US. That title will now belong to rival JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The cuts will be made by the end of the year and are part of an effort to make Bank of America into a leaner and more focused enterprise, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

The Journal added that the plan will help Bank of America take less risk while generating more value out of existing customers. It will also further utilize an investment banking operation inherited from Merrill Lynch & Co.

CNBC reported that at the end of quarter three, Bank of America had just over 275,000 employees. The job cuts are part of a plan to eliminate $5 billion in annual expenses and 30,000 jobs by the end of 2013. Many of the cuts will come in consumer and technology areas.

The cuts are all part of a plan by Chief Executive Brian Moynihan called BAC. According to the AFP, that plan also includes the closing of 200 branches, on top of 178 shut down in 2011.

This will not be the end of cuts for the bank. There is a second phase  of the plan which is expected to eliminate $3 billion in annual expenses by mid-2015.