Eleven jobs have gone at the Bermuda office of law firm Appleby.Most of the employees affected worked in business support areas such as finance and marketing, Shaun Morris, the managing partner of Appleby (Bermuda) told The Royal Gazette yesterday.Eight Bermudians lost their jobs and three work permit holders. Two lawyers are among those leaving the firm. All were told the news in individual meetings with senior management yesterday.The firm took the action in response in a reduction in work levels in its Bermuda business over the past two years.The cuts come just days after rival law firm Conyers Dill & Pearman cut at least 13 jobs at the end of last week.“Appleby has taken these steps reluctantly and after a lengthy period of review,” Shaun Morris, managing director of Appleby (Bermuda), said.“We thought long and hard about any alternative measures we could adopt but unfortunately we concluded that we needed to make a reduction in overall headcount as one of a number of cost containment measures.“Having made this decision, our priorities are to ensure that high levels of service to our clients are maintained, while supporting those people who will be leaving Appleby, as well as those who will continue to work for us in Bermuda.”Appleby has approximately 360 staff in its Bermuda office, including 65 lawyers, according to the firm's website. The firm's roots on the Island go back to 1897.Appleby has operations in 11 other jurisdictions, including the Cayman Islands, London, Zurich, Jersey, Guernsey, Bahrain and Mauritius and has a global team of around 800 lawyers.Appleby's business includes corporate and commercial work, litigation and insolvency, as well as trust and property business.Bermuda has experienced a sharp decline in the number of new international companies and funds incorporating on the Island since the 2008 financial crisis, which has reduced the workload for all business services firms.Appleby's group managing partner Peter Bubenzer indicated that the global economic downturn had not hit some of the firm's other offices as hard as Bermuda.“Like many other businesses, we have been affected by the downturn in work flowing to the Bermuda office,” Mr Bubenzer said. “Our business is strong, but like many other strong businesses, we have had to make tough decisions.“The impact of the downturn is not evenly spread around the jurisdictions in which we operate. Appleby is a diversified business and this is helping us to weather these difficult times.”Mr Morris said he was confident that Bermuda could rebound from the present economic difficulties and called for public and private sectors to work together to achieve a positive way forward.“History and recessions provide a lens through which we can gauge the time frame for economic recovery in Bermuda,” Mr Morris said.“We are confident the economy will rebound and growth will be restored. In planning for the future, we need to develop strategies which focus on the inputs that are required to create investment opportunities and private sector jobs that will ultimately drive and sustain economic growth.“As a jurisdiction we are competing for capital in an environment where investors can and do shop the globe for talent, growth and productivity.“Now more than ever, the Government and the private sector must collaboratively assess and utilise multiple distribution channels and convey a key message to different constituents in the global marketplace, that Bermuda is open for business and that its proposition is strong.”www.applebyglobal.com