Media reports this week indicate Lehman Brothers recently began laying off an estimated 1,400 people or about 5 percent of its worldwide work force.

The reduction appears come on top of a reduction of identical proportions the firm reportedly carried out in March. The March reports of a mass layoff from Lehman were never officially confirmed.

The latest round of job cuts "are expected to affect all divisions of the company across the globe," according to the New York Sun newspaper. The story said a few areas will be spared, among them Asia, the commodities capital markets groups, and some emerging markets. But it added that employees expect Lehman to slash still more jobs after the summer.

The latest reductions add to the 5,000 jobs the firm has already eliminated in the past 10 months.

The paper also quotes headhunter Adam Zoia, the managing partner at Glocap Search, saying that rather than signaling a further business downturn, "This is rather an opportunity by Lehman to cut out some of the fat that they would probably like to do anyway, and also a signal to shareholders that they are serious about restoring their profitability to levels they had previously."