Bank of America Corp., newly merged with FleetBoston Financial Corp., said Monday it will cut 12,500 jobs - or nearly 7 percent of its work force - over the next two years

Approximately 30 percent of the cuts will come through attrition, the Charlotte-based bank said, with the remaining jobs - about 8,750 - being eliminated through layoffs and vacancies that won't be filled. The cuts will begin this month, as the company starts to notify affected employees from its combined work force of 181,000. Several workers leaving Bank of America's headquarters in downtown Charlotte Monday evening were not aware of the company's plans. Loan officer Veronica Dawkins said she had not received any word from the company. The completion last week of Bank of America's merger with Fleet created the nation's No. 3 bank with assets estimated at $966 billion. With about 5,700 branches, the new bank's footprint reaches from California through the South and up to New England. In assets, the bank trails only Citigroup and another planned megamerger between Chicago-based Bank One and J.P. Morgan Chase.