Legg Mason Plans Layoffs

Legg Mason Inc. (LM: 15.77 +0.77%) announced yesterday that it will soon be cutting jobs.

The Baltimore company has not yet provided specifics on positions and numbers yet, but is busy trying to come up with about $120 million in cost savings.

A company spokesperson has been quoted in the press as describing the layoffs as “surgical” in nature, rather than a broad swath of Legg’s employees.

Legg Mason is Baltimore’s third-largest public company, and employed about 1,100 people as of January 2008.

Legg’s performance has come under fire from analysts and investors lately, and the company posted its first loss in 25 years in May. Its second quarterly loss came this past July as the credit crunch took hold, and it lost nearly $104 million in its fiscal second quarter, its third straight quarterly loss.