Reports: Morgan Stanley to Eliminate 1,600 Jobs

Amid declining share and revenue across the industry, financial services firm ""Morgan Stanley"":http://www.morganstanley.com/index.html announced that it will eliminate about 1,600 jobs, or about 2.6 percent of all employees, multiple news outlets said Friday.

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""_Bloomberg News_"":http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-15/morgan-stanley-plans-to-cut-about-1-600-jobs-worldwide-in-first-quarter.html reported that Mark Lake, a spokesperson for the firm, said that Morgan Stanley will slash its jobs over the first quarter next year.

Morgan Stanley did away with 400 employees beginning in 2009 as a way to shore up its trading business, lagging since the financial crisis, the ""_Wall Street Journal_"":http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204026804577100271369535212.html said.

The newspaper quoted a spokesperson as saying that layoffs would take place after the firm's ""year-end

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performance-management process"" and a look at the ""right size of the franchise.""

_Bloomberg_ said that the announcement follows disclosures by a host of other financial firms with plans to slash approximately 200,000 jobs from the financial services industry next year.

The decision by Morgan Stanley comes on the heels of several other saving measures by major financial services institutions and bank holding companies this year.

_Bloomberg_ reported that Citigroup may soon slash 413 jobs in New York City ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô a move in the direction of eliminations for 4,500 jobs.

Life insurer MetLife announced in October that it would find a seller for its Home Loans division or shut it down, citing onerous rules and regulations.

In August Bank of America moved to close down its correspondent lending unit after failing to find a buyer, a decision that will cost some 1,200 employees or so their jobs with the company.

Wary consumers at home and a gloomy economic outlook abroad add to the crises, with ""Standard & Poor's"":http://www.standardandpoors.com/home/en/us recently placing 15 euro zone nations on negative review in advance of possible sovereign default by countries like Italy and Spain.