Morgan Stanley, which has been struggling to increase the size and productivity of its broker force, plans to eliminate about 10% of its brokers. In a memo to employees yesterday, the Wall Street investment bank said it will slash about 1,000 of its lowest-producing brokers from its force of about 10,200 over the next few months.

The memo, written by Morgan Stanley’s acting president Zoe Cruz, also said the firm is slowing its training program for new brokers, focusing instead on recruiting “experienced brokers who are focused on serving high net-worth individuals.”

Plans for reorganizing the retail brokerage unit, which Morgan Stanley inherited when it merged with Dean Witter Discover in 1997, began earlier this year before new CEO John Mack was brought in to replace Philip Purcell.