JPMorgan Chase Plans 400 Layoffs in Mortgage Business

 

JPMorgan Chase is reportedly laying off approximately 400 employees in its residential mortgage business.

 

The lender did not make a formal announcement of its workforce cuts, and the news was first reported by Wall Street Journal on Friday afternoon in an article citing unnamed “people familiar with the matter.” The reasons behind the layoff were attributed to rising interest rates, a slowdown in home sales and a decline in mortgage delinquencies—the latter was attributed to the targeting of mortgage servicing staff for job cuts. JPMorgan Chase has about 20,000 employees in its residential mortgage business and the layoffs will account for 2 percent of that group, with most of the layoffs occurring at operations in two Ohio locations (Cleveland and Columbus) plus Phoenix and Jacksonville, Fla.

 

“When fewer people are struggling with their mortgages, and more people are using self-service channels, we can adjust staffing,” the bank said in a statement obtained by the Wall Street Journal. “Like all companies, we are making improvements to operate more efficiently and make slight adjustments to resources to best meet the needs of the market.”

 

The layoffs come at a time when JPMorgan Chase has announced expansions of its branch operations in the Philadelphia metro area and New England.