Texas Layoffs at WaMu

WaMu consolidated the functions of a records center in Houston and eliminated roughly 60 positions, spokesman Tim McGarry told MortgageDaily.com in an e-mail statement.

Work from the center, which maintained records for second mortgages, was transferred to units doing the same kind of work in Florence, S.C., and Jacksonville, Fla., according to the statement.

Performing this function in two locations instead of three will improve efficiency, McGarry said.

It was unclear at press time whether the Houston center completely closed down or held other operations, but McGarry noted, “Clearly we vacated space and there will be cost savings.”

The affected Houston employees learned about WaMu’s decision on Jan. 10, McGarry said, adding that WaMu has announced a number of similar real estate consolidations over the past 18 months.

This quarter held the scheduled completion of at least two other rounds of layoffs done in an effort to cut costs — about 300 job cuts in Wisconsin related to the sale of the $140 billion servicing rights to Wells Fargo and about 250 subprime employee reductions throughout California, New Jersey, Oregon and Texas.