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 emporium, JPMorgan Chase is cutting about 80 percent of the Seattle work force at Washington Mutual.
About 3,400 mostly high-paid headquarters employees will be let movement, while workers at WaMu’s 185 Washington branches command keep their jobs.
As it shrinks staff, JPMorgan will empty most of the leased extension in downtown Seattle used by WaMu, the biggest occupant of downtown duty property. It may but also devoid a boastful piece of its 2-year-old WaMu Center headquarters tower, now owned by JPMorgan.
“We are going to shape a great company for the throughout run. Unfortunately, that entails tough decisions in the short stretch,” said JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who visited Seattle this week for the foremost time since his bank bought most of WaMu’s assets after federal regulators seized the profit Sept. 25.
One of Dimon’s big messages to incorporated and civic leaders Monday was that JPMorgan next year give by will maintain WaMu’sitting 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 Dimon and his cadre of New York bankers.
Right afterwards WaMu was bought, said undivided person in the credit-risk department who learned Monday she is conscious laid off, “we went from conference call to conference call hearing, ‘We really love you guys, we’re going to keep the majority of the people and work to breed people jobs in other areas.’
“I expected to at least have somebody converse to me about which could I do and what am I interested in,” said the employee, who spoke on class of anonymity.
JPMorgan executives should be obliged made clear they wanted for the greatest part 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, bank officials said Monday.
JPMorgan, known for cutting costs after making acquisitions, slashed more deeply after buying investment bank Bear Stearns last summer. It offered jobs to only 6,500 of Bear’sitting 14,000 workers, and too cut 2,000 JPMorgan positions.
Biggest hit
