Morgan Stanley to Lay Off 1,000 [Gee, Thanks For The Robust Economy *]

[HCE SuiGeneris]

By KATE KELLY
January 24, 2008 12:56 p.m. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120119289230313703.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

The brokerage firm Morgan Stanley is set to lay off about 1,000 people in a 2% reduction of its nearly 50,000 member global work force.

"The firm is engaged in an ongoing process of assessing its personnel needs in light of overall market conditions, business priorities and individual performance," said a Morgan spokesman. The effort "will involved headcount reductions in some areas," he added, "and additions in others."

Cutbacks will take place in the firm's wealth-management unit, say people familiar with the plans, and will affect primarily U.S. based back-office employees in technology, operations, and support functions. The layoffs will not touch the firm's institutional securities area, which includes sales and trading and investment banking, these people said.

News of the layoffs was first reported by CNBC television. In midmorning New York Stock Exchange composite trading, Morgan shares were down about 2%, at $50.77.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

1. State records rise in mass layoffs

Ohio saw an increase in large scale layoffs for December, the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday.

For December, the state experienced 149 mass layoffs -- resulting in 14,909 claims for unemployment insurance -- versus 137 mass layoffs and 15,848 claims for insurance in the same month the previous year.

December's figures also mark an increase from November when 68 mass layoffs occurred, resulting in 7,369 claims for jobless assistance.

Ohio had the fifth highest number of mass layoff claims in December with California, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Illinois outpacing insurance claims for the month. These five states accounted for 48 percent of all mass layoffs and 45 percent of claims for unemployment in the country for December.

http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2008/01/21/daily29.html

More layoffs: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=us&q=layoffs