The reduction is in response to the decline over the past 12 months in capital markets that has affected the firms assets under management and is part of an overall effort to keep costs in line with revenues, MFS told employees.
MFS spokesman John Reilly said the cuts were across the board, including a few investment management executives.
MFS assets under management are down 20% from $204 billion a year ago to $162 billion today.
The last time MFS laid off people was in 2002, when another 5% of the staff, 135 people out of 2,700, lost their jobs.
