Now that Bank of America Corp. has finalized its $21 billion purchase of LaSalle Bank, among its next steps will be laying off 2,500 Illinois employees over the next two years.

But that doesn’t mean bankers in the financial services industry should be running for cover.

“The perception is that bankers are getting let go, but that’s not necessarily the reality,” said Tom Gimbel, president and CEO of the LaSalle Network, a Chicago-based staffing and recruiting firm that has no relationship to or with the bank itself. “They’re going to downsize within the core competency and in the operational support areas.”

Bank of America, the nation’s second largest bank behind Citicorp Inc., had been expected to cut more than 4,000 LaSalle jobs in the Chicago area. It has not announced where the cuts will be.

The LaSalle transaction closed Oct. 1. The combined company will have about 8,000 workers in Illinois, Bank of America has said.

Cuts at senior levels could put employees in an even “tighter market than two years ago,” said Mike Wolson, president of the Covington Group, a staffing and recruiting firm in Naperville.

It’s been widely reported that Norman Bobins, LaSalle CEO, will retire at the end of the year after assisting in the transition. Some other top executives are also expected to leave, according to reports.

However, because of LaSalle’s huge infrastructure in Chicago, layoffs will likely include everyone from administrative assistants to accountants, Gimbel said.

“With corporation downsizing at this volume, it’s usually the low man on the totem pole from an ability standpoint that gets cut,” he said.

Still, despite the announced layoffs and the recent downturn in the real estate market, bank hiring in Chicago remains strong, which will allow some of the laid-off workers to move to other banks. Hiring won’t, however, be able to absorb all those losses, Gimbel said.

But it won’t have to.

Gimbel said he believes some workers will start leaving voluntarily before the two years are up, with many moving to other industries. He estimates that 80 percent will move out of banking and financial services.

“People hear banking and they think it’s all lenders and tellers, Gimbel said. “But there’s a lot more to it.”

The cuts could include accountants, auditors and administrative assistants, all positions with skills that are transferable to other industries, he said.

Karen Sill, a recruiting manager with the Covington Group, is unsure of where the job cuts will be. But she said she has noticed that many candidates being let go from the banking industry are in service or mortgage-related areas.

Those candidates are having trouble finding work because their background often doesn’t fit with available positions, Sill said. Many of the positions she comes across require an accounting or finance degree as a prerequisite.

“They may have been a financial analyst, but yet they graduated school with a degree in business, and none of their experience has anything related to accounting,” she said.

To the average consumer, the acquisition will make little difference as long as service remains the same, Gimbel said. Bank of America has not announced what business lines and locations will close.

And while some types of employees may have trouble in the job market, the Covington Group’s Wolson said the banking industry will remain largely unchanged.

“We’re still in a candidate short market for accounting and finance and IT professionals,” he said. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of people whose skill set doesn’t match up with that demand.”

The cuts may also create a more employer-favored banking job market, Gimbel said. That means there will be more competition for top jobs among high quality candidates.

“When the market gets flooded, then employers have more choice whether perceived or otherwise,” he said. “Now, you may get flooded with bad people, but it gives a company more choice.”

It’s also a rare opportunity for strong employees who are getting downsized because of an acquisition, Gimbel said.

“When companies are going to downsize to the economy, they don’t let go of their great people, they let go of their weak links,” he said. “In a downsizing due to acquisition, there are going to be some really good people out there in the market that are going to command top dollar.”