CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Bank of America employees are learning that there could be as many as 30,000 layoffs when the bank and Merrill Lynch merge.  That’s three times as many layoffs as first estimated.

"There will be a lot of layoffs," said CNBC reporter Charlie Gasparino Tuesday afternoon.

"Something like 30,000 layoffs over a period of time. It could be through attrition and through the selling of businesses.  But that workforce will come down dramatically,"  he said.

The cuts are part of a long-term plan by Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis. Lewis wants to save $7 billion from the merger with Merrrill Lynch over the next few years. The workforce that could be hit the hardest is investment banking.

"There’s good news and bad news in this," said UNC-Charlotte finance Professor Tony Plath. "It’ll definitely affect New York more than us. We know the cuts will be deeper on the Merrill side and the investment banking side. And those jobs are in New York City. They’re not here in Charlotte."

Bank of America Media Relations released this statement Tuesday night: "We are currently evaluating our staffing levels, given both the pending merger with Merrill Lynch and the weak economic environment, which is affecting the level of business activity. While we believe both factors will result in eliminations of positions, we have not completed our analysis. We expect to have a final plan early in 2009."