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BY IRIS ZHANG

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Reports say Bank of America could cut up to 40,000 employees nationwide. This, on top of the 6,000 jobs already slashed this year. These lay-offs are part of CEO Brian Moynihan’s reconstruction plan, which was unveiled this April.

Here’s a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, who broke the story.

“So this is Brian’s attempt to make BOA into a much smaller, leaner, more efficient company. Actually, if you look at all the big banks, BOA has a lot more employees than JPM or Wells or CITI, even. So I think they want to it down...”

A contributor tells Bloomberg, considering BOA’s financial situation, the layoff is an appropriate move.

“I think it’ll be great. So there will be almost a 10% reduction in head count. But given the changes in their business mix, given the revenue that they lost because of regulation and legislation, they need to reduce head count. So it’s all positive.”

Along the same lines, The New York Times suggests BOA is now “too big” of a corporation--and Moynihan’s reconstruction will help it become a more focused entity.

“The company resembles a crazy quilt assembled through acquisitions pursued by Mr. Moynihan’s predecessor, Kenneth D. Lewis, whose deal-making culminated in 2008 with the purchase of both Merrill Lynch and Countrywide Financial, the subprime mortgage giant at the root of many of Bank of America’s problems today.”

But according to a columnist for The Boston Globe, Moynihan’s strategy of “less is more” contradicts its original spirit.

“A campaign to simplify, sell off businesses, and embrace the idea that smaller can be better runs contrary to every fiber of corporate ethos that defined Bank of America as it grew to become a financial giant.”

The layoffs will be aimed at employees in local bank locations, mortgage operations, technology departments, and other support functions, including marketing and human resources.

Transcript by Newsy