Recent Wells Fargo Layoffs Reach 5,000

After recently notifying more than 3,000 mortgage employees of their impending layoffs, Wells Fargo & Co. is handing out pink slips to nearly 2,000 more.

On Aug. 21, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage advised 2,300 employees that they would be laid off. Slowing refinance demand was blamed for the decision.

Those layoffs were on top of 763 announced on Aug. 7 and another 300 potential layoffs related to the company’s exit from joint ventures announced on July 25.

On Wednesday, the San Francisco-based company disclosed that 60-day notices of displacement have been given to around 1,800 mortgage employees. Published reports put the exact number at 1,865.

“We are committed to retaining as many team members as possible, working with them to identify other opportunities within Wells Fargo,” a statement said. “We announced these changes the result of less mortgage refinancing volume than we experienced throughout 2012 and early 2013. After evaluating the current market and our business needs, we are responding to this change in demand and to better align and increase the efficiency of our organization.”

Today’s job cuts weren’t a total surprise.

Earlier this month, Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer Timothy Sloan said at an investor conference, “we will continue to actively manage our capacity based on volume as we’ve done in the past.”

Sloan’s presentation indicated that mortgage fulfillment staffing had fallen from a peak of more than 18,000 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, 2012, to roughly 17,000 as of the end of June.

Published reports today indicate that the latest round of layoffs includes positions at the following locations: