Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse..........

What follows is not for the faint-hearted.

After the story yesterday that up to 30,000 jobs may be lost as Bank of America merges with Merrill Lynch in the coming weeks, we had hoped for a respite on the job loss story front. However, it's clear that firms want to clear the decks before Christmas, and get as much of the bad news out of the way as they can.

Here's today's news:

Credit Suisse

The firm has announced 5,300 jobs will go around the world, after sustaining some $2.5bn in losses, mostly over at its investment banking unit, in October and November. The brunt of the job losses will fall in the investment bank, with private banking to remain largely untouched. In addition, 1,400 contractor positions will go.

Commerzbank ' Dresdner Kleinwort

1,200 jobs will go in London and 150 in Frankfurt as Commerzbank kicks off plans to integrate Dresdner. The axe is likely to fall in research, M&A and debt and equity underwriting. Jobs will also go in FX as Commerzbank merges the two platforms. The merger will not close until January, so this first cull will not begin until next month at the earliest, but is thought likely to be mostly completed by the end of the first quarter.

Nomura International

1,000 jobs will go in London in the first wave of cuts since Nomura acquired Lehman Brothers European businesses earlier this year. The cuts represent around 20% of the workforce.

State Street

The firm has confirmed that up to 1,800 jobs wil be cut, or 6% of the workforce, due to current adverse market conditions. Most of the cuts will come from State Street's North American operations.

Jefferies & Co

300 staff, or around 12.2% of the workforce, are said likely to be axed in the coming weeks.

Macquarie

Around 100 positions are said to have gone in the bank's Melbourne and Brisbane offices this week, and some staff in London are understood to have been told that they are to be relocated. There are some suggestions that up to 1,000 out of the firm's 13,000 workforce are likely to go an ongoing review of headcount.

Carlyle Group

100 positions, or 10%, of the private equity firm's staff, are said likely to lose their jobs.

Legg Mason

Further job cuts are expected as early as this week. The cull will be in addition to the staff already let go over at Legg Mason Capital Management.

Morgan Stanley

The firm has now shut its office in Greece, which it opened in 2004. It has also closed its Turkey office.

Sources - Bloomberg, Boston Herald, CNBC, Financial Times, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal

Layoffs - The Definitive Job Loss League Table Update

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