[NYTr] Booming Economy: Bank of America to lay off 2,500

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

AP via Business Week - Sep 25, 2007
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8RSFKQG0.htm

Bank of America to lay off 2,500

The Associated Press

Bank of America Corp. will lay off about 2,500 employees in Illinois
over the next two years as part of its planned $21 billion purchase of
Chicago's LaSalle Bank Corp., a spokesman said.

Employees found out Monday about the layoffs, which will begin in first
quarter of 2008, although bank locations and lines of business have not
been identified, said Scott Silvestri, spokesman for Charlotte,
N.C.-based Bank of America. After the layoffs, Bank of America will
have about 8,000 Illinois employees, he said.

"These layoffs, while painful, are a necessary first step toward
meeting our long-term goals," Silvestri said.

Bank of America earlier this month received approval from the Federal
Reserve to complete its acquisition of LaSalle Bank. The decision was
the final regulatory hurdle for the transaction, which is expected to
close in early October.

The purchase will create a leading banking franchise in Chicago and
Michigan, two areas where LaSalle mainly operates, while filling a key
gap for Bank of America nationally.

U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama said Monday in a letter to Bank
of America President Kenneth D. Lewis that they were "deeply troubled"
by the layoffs and asked the company to reconsider their scope and
timing.

"Job losses on this scale are difficult for any community to absorb,"
the letter said.