Shearson Moves to Cut Costs, Will Lay Off 2,000 : Brokerages: The brokerage also confirmed that it’s in talks with Smith Barney about other cost-saving joint ventures.

American Express said Wednesday that its troubled brokerage unit, Shearson Lehman Hutton, will lay off 2,000 workers in the next few weeks and also confirmed that it held talks about possible cost-saving joint ventures between Shearson and Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co.

In a letter to employees, Howard L. Clark Jr., Shearson’s new president and chief executive, said the layoffs and a cost-cutting program would result in a “significant” one-time charge, which would have a negative impact on first-quarter earnings. But a spokesman refused to say how large the charge probably will be or whether Shearson expects to report a loss for the quarter. The program is designed to save Shearson about $400 million annually.

An American Express spokesman strongly denied a report in the Financial Times of London that American Express Chairman James D. Robinson III had held talks with Sanford I. Weill, chairman of Primerica Corp., the parent of Smith Barney, about selling a big part of Shearson to Smith Barney. “There is no talk of selling any part of Shearson,” the spokesman said.

Wall Street sources, however, said that since last summer, American Express has made clear that Shearson is up for sale and has approached various U.S. and foreign concerns about selling all or part of the giant brokerage. Among those rumored to have rejected proposals are a Japanese concern, Nomura Securities International, and Salomon Bros.

Shearson has gone through turmoil recently and has been strongly affected by the overall downturn in the securities industry. Its chairman, Peter A. Cohen, resigned under pressure on Jan. 30, and American Express canceled plans to raise capital for the unit by making a $250-million rights offering. Instead, American Express said earlier this week that it would bolster Shearson’s capital itself, injecting $750 million and thus increasing its 61% stake in Shearson to an as yet unspecified level.

The American Express spokesman said there had been “very preliminary” talks with Primerica about possible joint ventures. He said the talks arose because “perhaps there are some areas where Smith Barney and Shearson could work together to achieve some economies of scale.” He declined to elaborate and refused to say if further talks may be held. One source said areas under consideration included the possibility of combining certain back-office operations.

The spokesman said the $750-million infusion by American Express “showed we have a very strong long-term commitment to Shearson.” Wall Street sources, however, said the infusion was probably necessary to maintain Shearson in strong operating condition. They said they doubted that American Express would spurn a good offer for all or part of Shearson.

A spokeswoman for Primerica refused to comment about talks with American Express.

Securities analysts and Wall Street executives were swift to note the irony of even limited overtures by American Express to Primerica. Weill, Primerica’s chairman, is a former head of Shearson who built the firm through mergers into one of America’s largest brokerages before he sold it to American Express in 1981 for $930 million. Weill quit, however, reportedly because he couldn’t get used to being second-in-command to Robinson.

The layoffs will contribute to the flood of unemployed securities industry workers. Most Wall Street firms have been reducing their staffs, and the demise of Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. is expected to dump more than 5,000 workers into the contracting Wall Street job market. Merrill Lynch has also said it is laying off several thousand employees.

A Shearson spokesman said the termination notices would go out within the next few weeks. He said the layoffs would be “firm-wide,” but he declined to disclose which departments would be most affected. Shearson currently has slightly more than 35,000 employees.

SANFORD WEILL PROFILE: D7