JPMorgan Keeping Half of Bear Jobs

JPMorgan Chase(JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon on Tuesday said the bank planned to keep nearly half of Bear Stearns'(BSC) employees after their planned merger later this month.

Dimon, in his opening remarks at the bank's annual shareholder meeting Tuesday, said JPMorgan is keeping 45% of Bear's employees and making an effort to find jobs for the rest. He said JPMorgan has contacted more than 1,300 other companies in the New York area in that effort.

Dimon said he believed Bear could provide earnings potential of about $1 billion by the end of 2009, but said a lot of work remained.

"We are also very clear to say, 'Mission not accomplished,'" Dimon said. "We think our shareholders should judge us on this in a year or two, because it is a very risky and tough proposition and we're in the middle of it right now."

He also said JPMorgan intended to cut jobs at the bank as a result of the Bear acquisition, but did not specify how many or where the cuts would be made.

JPMorgan in March bought Bear, at the time decimated by bankruptcy rumors, for $2 a share. The deal was brokered by the Federal Reserve, with the central bank backstopping the shakiest of Bear's asset-backed securities. After an outcry from Bear investors, JPMorgan later increased the offer to $10 a share.

The deal is expected to close at the end of May.

Most big Wall Street firms have cut jobs in recent months, including Citigroup(C), Merrill Lynch(MER), Lehman Brothers(LEH) and Morgan Stanley(MS).