Look at the last sentence (April 2013): Raymond James Financial is laying off 160 employees, including 115 in its St. Petersburg headquarters.
Most of the cuts confirmed Thursday were in information technology as the financial services and brokerage firm trimmed away overlap from last year's acquisition of Morgan Keegan & Co. In closing the $1.2 billion deal, which was the largest in Raymond James' history, the company previously indicated local job cuts were likely.
The merger catapulted the company's mission to market itself as the premier alternative to Wall Street-based brokerage firms.
At the time of the merger, Raymond James laid off 218 employees, primarily new Morgan Keegan employees at that firm's Memphis hub and elsewhere. But Raymond James has never had a sizable layoff like this in St. Petersburg before, company spokesman Steve Hollister said.
"These were not easy decisions, and we made every effort to be thoughtful and deliberate in our approach to achieving our staffing goals," Hollister said in a statement. "While an adjustment of this size is unprecedented in the firm's history, it is the consequence of an equally unprecedented acquisition."
No more sizable cuts are expected.