Remember Bank of America’s recent estimate that it would have to eliminate at least 3,500 jobs? Well, it looks like that number may have been just the tip of a very large iceberg.

According sources cited in a Wall Street Journal report, BofA has discussed the possibility of taking the hatchet to as many as 40,000 jobs — about 1/7 of the bank’s total workforce — as part of its massive restructuring plan.

The the Journal:

The numbers aren’t final and could change. The restructuring would reduce the bank’s work force over a period of years. In fact, [CEO Brian] Moynihan may not discuss a job-cut number during next week’s presentation at the Barclays Capital 2011 Global Financial Services Conference in New York.

The last time BofA pink-slipped this many employees was in 2008 when the housing bubble burst and the bank swooped in to save a dying Merrill Lynch.

BofA Cutbacks May Hit 40,000 [WSJ]

BofA discussing about 40,000 job cuts: report [Reuters]

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