|
|||
There was no Valentine’s Day celebration for hundreds of Washington Mutual Inc. subprime employees.
WaMu informed 250 people on Tuesday their positions were cut, spokeswoman Olivia Riley told MortgageDaily.com in an e-mail statement. The affected employees support Long Beach Mortgage loan fulfillment activity in four sites, Riley said. The Seattle-based thrift will redirect the volume to four other fulfillment sites. “This decision is a reflection of the weakening overall subprime mortgage market conditions and supports our efforts to ensure that operations are located where it makes the most economic sense,” Riley said. “WaMu remains committed to the subprime business. We continue to offer subprime products to our customers and we plan to drive profitable growth in this business.” The move is part of the company’s previously announced strategic plan to more effectively manage expenses and better position the company for future growth. Such effort includes relocating some support functions to lower-cost markets, increasing the use of outsourced support and eliminating jobs to match capacity with current and anticipated market conditions, the spokeswoman added. The subprime employee layoffs will be complete by mid-April and will take place in Stockton, Calif., Clarke, N.J., Lake Oswego, Ore. and Dallas, Texas, Riley said. Earlier this month, WaMu began laying off employees in Milwaukee, Wis., related to the sale of $140 billion in servicing rights to Wells Fargo. About 300 jobs will be eliminated by the end of May. |
back to current headlines