SunTrust Banks Inc, the seventh-largest US bank, on Monday said it expects to eliminate about 2,400 jobs by the end of next year as part of a plan to save $530 million annually by 2009. The job cuts are equal to about 7 percent of SunTrust's workforce as of the end of 2006.
Atlanta-based SunTrust said most of the job losses will involve employees who do not deal directly with customers. The cuts follow a review begun several months ago of ways to streamline back office and support operations, and reduce layers of management.
Spokesman Barry Koling said about 1,600 jobs are being eliminated this year, including at least 600 through attrition. Some of the 800 job cuts next year will also be through attrition, he said.
Koling said the cuts stem from "a broader shareholder value program conceived long before the current credit market-related industry firestorm surfaced." SunTrust expects to incur a $45 million pretax charge this quarter for the job cuts. Chief Executive James Wells, who took his job in January, is trying to make SunTrust more efficient after the bank tripled in size under predecessor L. Phillip Humann.