Merrill seen cutting 10-15 pct nonbroker jobs: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch & Co Inc MER.N plans to cut 10 to 15 percent of its employees who are not brokers in May, CNBC reported Thursday.

Merrill Lynch, which has been hammered by losses on mortgages and other assets, had about 64,000 employees as of the end of 2007, including about 17,000 brokers. That means layoffs could range from about 4,000 to 7,000.

CNBC, without citing sources, said Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain is expected to complete his review of headcount at the firm by the end of April. The bank is expected to report its first-quarter results on April 17.

The latest CNBC report steps back from an earlier broadcast, which said Merrill planned to cut 16,000 people -- or 25 percent of all employees.

A Merrill spokesman on Thursday said that while there will be jobs cut, the investment bank has not yet determined a specific number. The spokesman would not rule out job cuts of as much as 15 percent, though he notes Merrill want to avoid cutting too deeply, a mistake that Merrill has made in the past.

(Reporting by Dan Wilchins and Joseph Giannone, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)