OceanFirst Bank plans to lay off 114 employees as it winds down its residential loan origination business, the Toms River-based lender confirmed this week in a state filing. The cuts, disclosed in a WARN notice with the New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development, take effect Dec. 18.
The decision follows what executives called a “strategic” shift in response to an industry dominated by wholesale mortgage lenders and fintech firms.
“Residential lending has become dominated in recent years by large-scale wholesale mortgage companies and financial technology firms, prompting many banks to re-evaluate their mortgage business models,” said Jill Hewitt, senior vice president and director of corporate communications and marketing. “By transitioning our residential loan origination business model to this strategic partnership, OceanFirst will continue our focus on growing the commercial bank with significant investments to drive growth and profitability.”
To maintain mortgage offerings, OceanFirst will partner with Embrace Home Loans beginning in the fourth quarter. Hewitt emphasized that financing options will remain available to customers and that affected employees will receive severance and career transition assistance.
The move comes just a year after OceanFirst closed its acquisition of Garden State Home Loans, increasing its loan officer headcount by more than 60% in anticipation of future rate cuts, according to a 2024 company press release. Although the Fed delivered a 50 bps rate cut last year, that burst of refinances were quickly washed out by higher interest rates and sluggish housing demand.
OceanFirst, which has operated for more than 120 years, employs about 930 people across 40 branches in five states. As of June 30, it reported $13.24 billion in total assets and $10.35 billion in deposits. Executives have recently doubled down on commercial banking, hiring 49 bankers this year who have already brought in $115 million in deposits and nearly 200 new customer relationships.
Chairman and CEO Christopher Maher told analysts in July that the company’s primary focus is now on organic growth, with investments in new commercial teams, a Premier Bank launch, and expanded branches. “We’re seeing meaningful lending opportunities and early success gathering deposits,” Maher said. “We expect an increase in net interest income in the third quarter and continued improvement to margins in the second half of the year.”
The layoffs add to a string of job cuts across New Jersey’s financial sector this year. Prudential Financial, TD Bank, Valley National Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Barclays, and Ernst & Young have all announced workforce reductions in recent months, according to state WARN filings.
