B of A slashing 10,000 jobs — effect on Nevada unknown

Friday, July 28, 2000 | 11:13 a.m.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Bank of America Corp., the largest bank in Nevada, will cut as many as 10,000 jobs across the country over the next year to improve its earnings and efficiency.

The cuts, about 7 percent of the Charlotte-based bank's 150,000-person work force, will focus on middle- and upper-level management as well as jobs made unnecessary by improvements in efficiency, the bank said today.

A bank spokeswoman said the company has not determined layoffs by market so it is unknown how many jobs will be cut in Nevada. There are about 2,225 employees at 77 Nevada B of A banking centers.

The company's chairman said the days of the banking company's rapid expansion from its North Carolina base are over and it needs to concentrate on improving daily business.

"We have been saying for some time that our days of growth by merger and acquisition are behind us," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Hugh L. McColl, Jr.

"To date, despite our many successes in individual businesses, we have not made the degree of progress we would like toward realizing that potential. We've assembled the right parts, but after years of additions, our resulting structure is neither as efficient, nor as effective as it needs to be. We're going to fix it in order to take advantage of our revenue opportunities."

Some of the cuts will come through attrition, but a bank spokesman said many will be through the elimination of positions.