Countrywide Cutting CA, FL Jobs

Effective, Jan. 31, 2006, subsidiary Countrywide Financial Corp. will close two central processing units located in Westlake Village, Calif., and Sunrise, Fla., the company said in a recent statement.

Countrywide attributed the action to “an industrywide slowdown in originations,” and in part to its market share growth strategy to increase the role of regional operations centers and reduce emphasis on central processing units.

About 100 of the loan-processing-job layoffs will be from the Sunrise unit and less than 200 will come from the Westlake Village location, according to the statement.

The Calabasas, Calif.-based lender will reportedly provide affected personnel with assistance in job placement, among other services, yet it anticipates that many will find other positions within the company.

The terminations are “a small percentage of the 31,800 positions currently involved in loan originations at Countrywide, and nearly 54,000 in the company’s total work force,” the lender noted.

Three months ago, Countrywide eliminated the underwriting department of its subprime business in California, which affected 65 employees who were all offered jobs in Chandler, Ariz., one of the more business-friendly states the mortgage giant has decided to expand in.

Countrywide further highlighted, in the recent statement, that it is on a mission to expand its mortgage market share to 30 percent and nearly double its workforce to 100,000 by the end of the decade.

Early in the quarter, Countrywide announced the purchase of two Tampa buildings that would create room to boost its workforce of 2,500 dispersed throughout Florida by an additional 900 to 1,000 within one to two years.

Another state where the lender has recently extended its footprint is Texas, where it plans to add 7,500 jobs by 2011.