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Bank of America on Monday dismissed about 20 senior executives, including the Charlotte-based company's general counsel.

We knew this was coming, but it is no less painful.

Bank of America's plans to lay off up to 35,000 workers systemwide. The cuts will help defray the bank's costs of acquiring Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and to help cope with a struggling economy.

An estimated 15,000 BOA workers are based in Charlotte. Although company officials haven't said how many of those jobs will be lost, the impact will be substantial. Besides being a major employer, BOA is a force in community affairs and funds numerous charities.

In today's topsy-turvy economy, white-collar workers look just as vulnerable as their blue-collar counterparts. And replacing either kind during a recession won't be easy.

To meet annual year-end earnings targets, the cuts are likely to occur during the holidays. In BOA's case, they will continue into the first quarter of 2009.

BOA's crosstown banking rival, Wachovia, also is eliminating jobs. As a result of its merger with San Francisco's Wells Fargo, its corporate headquarters will move elsewhere. That loss could be even more devastating to Charlotte's financial base.

Like small towns statewide that are seeing jobs disappear, the state's largest city will have to adjust. Mayor Pat McCrory is setting his sites on "less glamorous industries" such as biotech, energy and insurance.

So are other communities, including the Triad. BOA's layoffs show a hit can happen anywhere, any time, with considerable economic and human costs.