Investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. will begin to cut jobs on May 19 and plans to shed 5 percent of its workforce, according to media reports.

The reductions would amount to about 1,400 jobs, on top of the 5,000 that the firm eliminated during the past 10 months, according to Bloomberg. Reuters reported in early March that Lehman was planning to cut 5 percent of its work force at that time.

It was unclear if the planned layoffs were in addition to those previously reported. Lehman, led by Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld, is seeking to weather the credit-market contraction by disposing of high-risk assets such as mortgage-backed bonds and relying less on borrowed money

A range of other Wall Street firms have been cutting jobs as business slowed in various areas, including investment banking, residential mortgages and asset-backed securities.

Shares of the investment bank fell $1.13, or 2.5 percent, to $43.64 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has dropped 33 percent this year.

Lehman brothers Investment