Shearman & Sterling is to cut 60 support staff jobs in its US and Canadian offices after yesterday announcing redundancies in the UK (3 March).

In an email sent to the firm Shearman’s executive director Kimberly Gardner confirmed that cuts are being made due to volatile market conditions.

The firm’s New York, Toronto, Washington DC and two Bay Area offices will be affected.

Gardner said: “As we know, global economic conditions continue to be volatile and there is no certainty about when the downturn is likely to end.

“While the current environment has created some new business opportunities for the firm it has also required a careful balancing of service levels and cost measures.”

The groups affected include finance, HR, marketing and office services.

An inside source said: “We’ve been gradually reducing our support staff for the last three years or so.

“We realised we were overstaffed in this area and so have been steadily reducing numbers.”