|
|||
| After the latest round of layoffs, just 100 employees remain out of thousands employed earlier this year by WMC Mortgage Corp., though a buyer is still sought for the remaining business.
On Oct. 29, the Burbank, Calif.-based subprime lender eliminated the jobs of 440 workers, GE Money spokesman Richard Jones told MortgageDaily.com today. The “larger number” of layoffs occurred at the site in Orangeburg, N.Y., which was closed and leaves WMC with only its headquarters office. Roughly 100 employees remain in Burbank as the lender continues to accept mortgage applications online, the spokesman said. “We are still pursuing a sell for the business,” Jones added. Parent General Electric Co. disclosed in September that it was on track to either close or sell WMC by the end of the year and would report the unit as discontinued operations for the third quarter. At the time, WMC had halted originations as well. GE first announced its intention to exit the U.S. mortgage business in July, after having laid off at least 1,336 workers to restructure WMC to reflect the subprime lending environment and reporting losses for the unit in both the first quarter — a net loss of $373 million — and second quarter. The wave of layoffs began in early March, when WMC said it had eliminated 450 positions. More layoffs followed later in the month, and although the company declined to disclose the number, a Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification filing with the state of California showed at least a total 115 occurred in Burbank and Costa Mesa. WMC said it closed three of its offices and laid off half — or 771 — of its staff in April. Of these, 59 occurred in Costa Mesa, 103 in San Ramon, 255 were in Burbank, and 185 were in Addison, Texas, according to WARN filings. Bank of America is shutting down its wholesale lending operation, with published accounts of around 700 layoffs. A Texas WARN filing indicates 172 of those layoffs will be in Dallas. |
|||
