Wall Street 2008 Layoffs Could Top 200,000

More than 110,000 people working in finance in the U.S. have lost their jobs so far this year, but that could nearly double to more than 200,000 in the final weeks of the year, the Anniston Star reports.

Last Thursday, Goldman Sachs revealed it is eliminating 10%, or 3,200, of its 32,000-strong employee roster. In total, Barclays is eliminating 3,000 following its acquisition of Lehman Brothers, and Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch is certain to add thousands more.

“Wall Street the way we know it is, frankly, gone,” said Touro College Graduate School of Business Dean Dr. Michael Williams.

Williams estimates 90,000 more financial services executives could lose their jobs by the end of the year, and another 50,000 in the first half of next year.

Last year, 153,105 positions at financial services firms were eliminated, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.