Morgan Stanley Eyes New Job Cuts: Report

Morgan Stanley (MS Quote) is eyeing a fresh round of layoffs, according to a report Monday in The Wall Street Journal.

The paper reports Morgan Stanley may eliminate an additional 1,500 to 1,800 jobs, or 3% to 4% of its employees, on top of some 7,000 cuts last year, the Journal reported. Those cuts are not related to the planned Smith Barney joint venture with Citigroup (C Quote), the report stated.

A Morgan Stanley spokesman did not respond to an email message.

Rival Goldman Sachs (GS Quote) is also considering further cuts, the Journal reported last week. Goldman cut 10,000 jobs in 2008, according to the Journal. A Goldman spokesman did not respond to an email message.

The U.S. financial sector announced 260,110 job cuts in 2008, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That is nearly twice as many as the Chicago-based outplacement firm recorded in 2007 and more than five times the 2006 total. In 2001, financial firms cut 116,647 jobs.

Rolfe "Rik" Kopelan, managing partner with Wall Street recruiting firm Capstone Partnership, says he expects the total headcount in investment banking to drop 50% to 60% over the next two to three years from where it was at the height of the market.