The Financial Times reports that UK 'think tank' The Centre for Economics and Business Research is now predicting that 6,000 City jobs will go next year, as firms reel from the credit crunch and the global economy hits a more difficult period.

Over in the US, a study released Thursday by Chicago employment consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas has revealed that in the first 9 months of the year, the US financial services industry shed 129,927 jobs (compared to 34,903 in the same period in 2006). The Financial Times quotes Punk, Ziegel analyst Richard Rove, who predicts that Wall Street firms may eventually have to cut up to 10% of their TOTAL workforce due to the problems they are having in fixed income. The Daily Telegraph reports that recruiters Options Group has recently estimated that around a third of fixed income staff working on Wall Street will ultimately face the job axe. And some fear that up to 40,000 financial markets jobs could go in New York alone in the coming months.

Here's a note of who's said to have been chopping heads so far:

ABN AMRO - Now that the wholesale banking operation is to be merged with Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) unit, staff in both businesses are concerned for their jobs. Although senior executives (and the next layer down) will exit fairly quickly, no major job cuts are thought likely in the short-term. Overall, 19,000 jobs losses are planned between the four firms involved in the deal - ABN and the RBS consortium (RBS, Fortis and Santander).

Bank of America - a 93% decline in third-quarter earnings over at the investment bank has meant that the job axe is falling. 3,000 jobs are to go overall, the majority in investment banking, and mostly in the US.

Bear Stearns - Sept 07 - 310 jobs are going in mortgage origination. This is on top of the 240 job losses already announced.

29th Oct 07 - a further 300 job losses announced 'at various levels in various business units'.

Citi - in the midst of a restructure where 17,000 jobs are likely to be culled anyway. The company is said to be reviewing costs in the light of recent write-downs. More jobs are likely to go in the investment bank.

Credit Suisse - 220 job losses already announced over at the investment banking division, mostly in New York and mainly in fixed income.

Deutsche Bank - been a few job cuts at the edges, but the firm says that it is 'staying the course' and wants to be well-placed to capitalise when the markets pick up next year.

Goldman Sachs - Dealbreaker advises that their sources have advised of 250 recent layoffs in fixed income, mainly in asset-backed securities. One unnamed source said that the job losses are not going to be reported anywhere, as 'you don't talk about being fired from Goldman Sachs'.

HSBC - The firm's US mortgage unit is being restructured, with the loss of around 750 jobs.

JPMorgan - heads have now been cut in asset-backed securities and collateralized-debt obligations. Spokesperson Brian Marchiony has confirmed that 'we are making modest staff reductions in areas where we expect lower volumes going foward, including leveraged finance and structured finance'.

Lehman Brothers - already announced over 2,000 jobs cuts in its mortgage origination business, mostly in the US. More jobs are likely to go in fixed income before Christmas.

Merrill Lynch - already announced job losses in the US at its First Franklin mortgage origination business. The firm has recently confirmed that it will make its first loss for almost 6 years in the third-quarter. Rumours abound that 15% of the firm's fixed income staff face the axe, although Merrill spokesperson Jessica Oppenheim has said that 'we are not anticipating any significant scaledown of employees'.

Morgan Stanley - 600 jobs will go in mortgage origination, 500 of them in the US. There are also rumours that the firm has canned its graduate recruitment plans for institutional securities for next year.

300 jobs are also going in credit trading, leveraged lending and structured products. Most of the layoffs will be in the US, although up to 80 staff are likely to go in Europe and Asia.

Nomura - 400 jobs will go in the US as the firm shuts down its mortgage-backed securities business.

Royal Bank of Scotland -  Now that the wholesale banking operation is to be merged with Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) unit, staff in both businesses are concerned for their jobs. Although senior executives (and the next layer down) will exit fairly quickly, no major job cuts are thought likely in the short-term. Overall, 19,000 jobs losses are planned between the four firms involved in the deal - ABN and the RBS consortium (RBS, Fortis and Santander).

In addition, around 20 jobs gone at RBS's US structured finance business.

UBS - announced 1,500 job losses. This will come mostly from fixed income in the US and London. Around 350 London-based jobs are likely to go. Rumours that the firm is likely to pull out of investment banking completely to focus on private banking and fund management are thought to be wide of the mark. (UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel has now come out and said that a spin off or sale of the investment bank is not on the cards).

Wachovia Corp

A bank spokesperson has confirmed that 200 jobs are likely to go in the firm's investment banking division before the end of the year.

If you have any snippets to tell us about job losses at your firm (or want to make a general observation), please use the 'Comment on this story' button below to feed us the information. Your details will NOT be published.

READER COMMENT:

1. 'I am aware of job cuts at JPMorgan in New York. A friend, who is a credit trader, was let go last week, along with a number of others on his desk. These cuts have not be made public'.

2. 'The number of jobs cuts just looks like sensationalism. Many of these cuts will be achieved by normal attrition rates, rather than firings'. (Ed's note - 'normal attrition rates' don't apply in times like this, as there's usually nowhere for unhappy staff to go).

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