Jefferies laying off 10 pct of employees-sources
By Joseph A. Giannone and Michael Erman
NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Middle market investment bank Jefferies Group Inc (JEF.N) began laying off employees Tuesday as part of plans to slash 10 percent of its workforce worldwide, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Roughly 10 percent of Jefferies' 2,465 employees will be let go with the cuts hitting almost every business line. The firm had already slimmed down from 2,529 employees a year earlier.
Jefferies officials did not return calls seeking comment. Chief Executive Richard Handler declined to comment on the subject of layoffs.
The New York firm has offices in leading financial centers across the United States, the UK, Switzerland, Germany, France, United Arab Emirates, India, China, Japan, and Singapore, according to its website.
The cuts mark a turnabout for Jefferies, which as recently as October emphasized plans to continue hiring talented bankers and traders freed up by bigger Wall Street firms hit by the global credit crunch.
Fortified with capital from Leucadia National Corp (LUK.N) earlier this year, the firm made a number of hires in the past few months, picking up top-tier names from Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns.
Among others, Jefferies hired Lehman's Jason Roelke to run derivatives sales and added 25 global equity markets staffers from Bear Stearns in London. (Reporting by Joseph A. Giannone, Michael Erman; Editing by Gary Hill)
