Last month, Bank of America announced plans to cut about 3,500 jobs. People speculated that ultimately, the bank would slash about 10,000 jobs, which seemed like a huge number.

Now comes word from the Charlotte Observer that CEO Brian Moynihan, who is under a lot pressure from shareholders, is finalizing plans that would cut up to 30,000 jobs--just over 10 percent of the total--over several years. This would appear to be part of Project New BAC that aims to reduce expenses dramatically. In the first phase of the program, Bank of America executives are reportedly taking a close look at the core consumer unit and the mortgage business. Later, in the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2012, executives will examine capital markets, wealth management and commercial banking operations for cuts. More details are expected in the bank's third quarter conference call.

This is a brutal move in a tough economy, and you have to feel bad for employees. It's incredibly distracting to work through this sort of uncertainty, especially as their Bank of America stock-heavy 401(k) plans tumble. But Moynihan has little choice. His legacy is on the line already, and he sorely needs to boost profits in order to build capital and rebuild institutional shareholder confidence. A stock price below $10 is hardly ideal.

Bank of America is hardly alone in its zeal to cut jobs. All the top banks have to look carefully at headcounts. If the third quarter proves weak, all this will be accelerated. For the banking industry anyway, this would appear to be a double dip in aggregate.

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