"Merrill Lynch's operations in Jersey City are more general back office operations," says Hughes. "That's duplication for Bank of America. Bank of America has a history, with their acquisitions, of not being hesitant to make major cuts that are required."

Merrill Lynch's operations to the south, in Mercer County, may fare better. "The company's biggest facility is Hopewell, which is their wealth management division," explains Hughes. "That's what Bank of America is really buying, that's not their expertise, so that should pretty much be held whole." Still, Bank of America's plan to realize a savings of more than $6 billion from the merger does not bode well for Merrill Lynch employees.

Even if extra office space is absorbed, the ramifications of thousands of New Jerseyans being out of work are sure to be felt keenly and quickly. "Additional effects on the state economy will be felt in terms of reduced income tax revenues, particularly New Jersey's gross income tax, which relies heavily for revenues on high income tax filers," says Dr. Joseph Seneca, a professor at the Bloustein School. "Many of those high net worth individuals are in the finance sector. It's hard to see that Wall St. bonuses and capital gains are going to be significant sources of taxable income this year for New Jersey."

With consumer spending already down due to the credit crisis and the general economic downturn, the loss of significant salaries could be disastrous for a state already billions of dollars in debt. But once the clouds part, this could end up being a good experience for the financial industry.

"This may be an accelerated part of a transformation that has to take place as the major houses have to deleverage and recapitalize," says Hughes. "The financial industry grew much faster than the overall economy in the 1998-2006period because they were able to borrow abundant, cheap, seemingly risk-free global capital. That business model is history, so they're going to be smaller institutions with fewer employees and they're going to be much more cost sensitive. It was essentially a wild economic party with all the new imaginative borrowing and lending schemes, but wild parties are followed by prolonged economic hangovers. We're just starting the hangover phase."