Wall Street employees about to return from the summer doldrums have something new to worry about: their jobs.

The weak economy, volatile markets, regulatory upheaval and changes in how traders and investment bankers are paid are starting to trigger job cuts that could reverse a recent rebound in overall employment levels at banks and securities firms.

While the firings so far add up to a tiny slice of all Wall Street jobs, companies and analysts say deeper cuts are looming unless business revs up soon. 'When push comes to shove, Wall Street firms are erring on the side of caution,' says Michael Franzino, head of the global financial-services practice at executive-search firm Korn/Ferry International in New York.

Barclays Capital, the investment-banking unit of Barclays PLC, has eliminated about 400 jobs, most of them back-office positions. Credit Suisse Group AG has warned its staff that the Swiss bank might trim 75 positions from its London office.

And other firms are contemplating cuts as they look at their bonus pools for 2010 amid sluggish securities sales and trading. The outlook for merger activity also remains cloudy despite last week's surge in deal making to its highest level since December 2009.

Some firms say that the recent job cuts are routine and that they will continue to hire people for roles that are especially important. Other companies are continuing to expand the businesses they entered as financial markets recovered last summer.

Nomura Holdings Inc.'s Nomura Securities unit has hired more than 600 people since March 2009 and is going ahead with plans to hire at least 300 employees by next March.

But even Wall Street firms that have been in hiring mode are completing those moves. UBS AG Chief Executive Oswald Grubel said last month that the 'rebuilding of our fixed income is nearly completed,' referring to the addition of 300 employees to the Swiss bank's fixed-income operations since 2009.

'The focus is now on execution and how can we increase revenue and client business,' he said.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has a relatively tight lid on hiring except for strategic positions here and there, according to people familiar with the matter. At the end of the second quarter, Goldman had 34,100 employees, up 3% from the prior quarter.

Goldman executives are more focused on changes coming with the new financial-regulation overhaul, including possibly closing the firm's proprietary-trading operations.

U.S. securities-industry employment at the end of June was 799,800, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The total is up 1.2% since March but down 6.7%, or 57,500 jobs, since 2007. In New York, the number of securities-industry jobs reached 159,200 in June. The total has been rising since February but remains 17% smaller than the 190,700 in August 2008.

Liz Rappaport / Carrick Mollenkamp

• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• investment [in´vestmənt] n.投资；(时间等)投入 (初中英语单词)
• reverse [ri´və:s] v.颠倒；(使)反向 (初中英语单词)
• employment [im´plɔimənt] n.工作；职业；雇用 (初中英语单词)
• international [,intə´næʃənəl] a.国际的，世界的 (初中英语单词)
• despite [di´spait] prep.尽管 (初中英语单词)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
• executive [ig´zekjutiv] a.行政的 n.行政官 (初中英语单词)
• income [´inkʌm] n.收入，所得 (初中英语单词)
• addition [ə´diʃən] n.加；加法；附加物 (初中英语单词)
• bureau [´bjuərəu] n.局；编辑部；事务所 (初中英语单词)
• routine [ru:´ti:n] n.日常工作 a.日常的 (高中英语单词)
• expand [ik´spænd] vt.张开；膨胀；扩大 (高中英语单词)
• execution [,eksi´kju:ʃən] n.执行；演奏；表演 (高中英语单词)
• revenue [´revinju:] n.税收；收入 (高中英语单词)
• client [´klaiənt] n.委托人；顾客 (高中英语单词)
• relatively [´relətivli] ad.比较地；相对地 (高中英语单词)
• outlook [´autluk] n.眺望；景色；展望 (英语四级单词)
• statistics [stə´tistiks] n.统计学；统计 (英语四级单词)
• trigger [´trigə] n.扳机 vt.触发，启动 (英语六级单词)
• sluggish [´slʌgiʃ] a.呆滞的；偷懒的 (英语六级单词)
• august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)