WaMu to lay off 3,400 in Seattle; bank to empty most of its leased space downtown
In a mass layoff that also could shake Seattle’s real-estate mart, JPMorgan Chase is cutting about 80 percent of the Seattle work compulsion at Washington Mutual.
About 3,400 chiefly high-paid headquarters employees exercise volition be let go, while workers at WaMu’s 185 Washington branches direction keep their jobs.
As it shrinks staff, JPMorgan decision empty in the greatest degree of the leased extension in downtown Seattle used by WaMu, the biggest occupant of downtown customary duty property. It may so much as empty a big piece of its 2-year-old WaMu Center headquarters tower, now owned through JPMorgan.
“We are going to build a great company towards the long run. Unfortunately, that entails tough decisions in the short run,” said JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who visited Seattle this week for the first time since his bank bought greatest part of WaMu’sitting assets in imitation of federal regulators seized the thrift Sept. 25.
One of Dimon’s big messages to corporate and civil leaders Monday was that JPMorgan next year will vindicate WaMu’s 2008 charitable donations of $2.65 million to Washington state nonprofits, primarily in Seattle.
That’s little solace to WaMu employees, some of whom feel they were misled by dint of. Dimon and his cadre of New York bankers.
Right hind WaMu was bought, said one person in the credit-risk department who skilled Monday she is life laid off, “we went from conference call to conference call judicial examination, ‘We really love you guys, we’re going to keep the majority of the people and work to get people jobs in other areas.’
“I expected to at least have somebody talk to me near what could I do and that which am I interested in,” said the employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
JPMorgan executives should have made clear they wanted mostly the workers in WaMu branches, not the headquarters, she said.
Only about 20 percent of WaMu’s nationwide work force of 43,200 is being laid off, embank officials said Monday.
JPMorgan, known for cutting costs after making acquisitions, slashed more deeply after buying investing. bank Bear Stearns last summer. It offered jobs to only 6,500 of Bear’session 14,000 workers, and also cut 2,000 JPMorgan positions.
Biggest hit
Original text: {news-link}
