Layoffs seen skyrocketing in wake of turmoil

Following this weekend’s turmoil on Wall Street, financial-sector job cuts may hit new heights, according to a report from Challenger Gray & Christmas Inc. of Chicago. The employment consultancy firm said that the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. of New York and the sale of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. of New York to Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp. would lead to even more layoffs. The sector has already chopped 102,957 positions this year, with 2,182 cuts in August. Challenger Gray predicts that a spike in yearend layoffs set off by this weekend’s actions could mean that 2008 job losses will top 2007’s record total of 153,105. In the past 12 months, Citigroup of New York led Wall Street with an announced 19,859 layoffs between August 2007 and August 2008. Meanwhile, Wachovia Corp. of Charlotte, N.C. came in second with 11,250 announced job cuts, followed by the combined New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. Inc. and The Bear Stearns Cos. Inc, with an announced 9,000 terminations.