Loan officers are the anticipated target
Wells Fargo is expected to reduce headcount yet again ahead of an anticipated recession.
Mortgage loan officers may be on the chopping block at the San Francisco-based company due to a roughly 90% drop in loans in its retail origination pipeline in the beginning of the fourth quarter, CNBC reported. The plummet stems from the Federal Reserve boosting rates to combat inflation, which as a result, has rocked the housing market.
“We expect it to remain challenging in the near term,” Wells Fargo CFO Mike Santomassimo told analysts on Oct. 14. “It’s possible that we have a further decline in mortgage banking revenue in the Q4 when originations are seasonally slower.”
The number of mortgage loan officers is expected to decrease to fewer than 2,000 from more than 4,000 at the dawn of 2022, CNBC reported. Last month, the banking giant reported that its total workforce shrank by about 14,000 people in the third quarter, a 6% decline to 239,209 employees.
“The changes we’ve recently made are the result of the broader rate environment and consistent with the response of other lenders in the industry,” a Wells Fargo spokesman told CNBC. “We regularly review and adjust staffing levels to align with market conditions and the needs of our businesses.”
Major brands throughout the United States, especially in California, have been trimming their workforces ahead of an economic downturn. Last week, Seagate Technology announced it plans to cut 8% of its global workforce, or about 3,000 employees, citing declining demand and economic uncertainty, CNBC reported. That followed telehealth unicorn Cerebral announcing it was laying off 20% of staff, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Last month, Beyond Meat announced it plans to cut 19% of its workforce (about 200 employees). As part of the cuts, the chief growth officer position has been eliminated and Deanna Jurgens, who held that role, has left the plant-based meat substitute producer. In August, the company announced it was trimming its global workforce by 4%, CNBC reported.
Beyond Meat also revealed that Chief Operating Officer Doug Ramsey has left the El Segundo, CA-based company. Ramsey was suspended after he was arrested on Sept. 17 for allegedly biting a man’s nose in a parking garage altercation near Razorback Stadium following Arkansas’ victory over Missouri State.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Television Group has eliminated 125 jobs (26% of its headcount), IndieWire reported. That tally includes 82 employees laid off across the scripted, unscripted and animation divisions, as well as 43 vacant positions that will go unfilled. The cuts come on the heels of layoffs at HBO and HBO Max in August, with an estimated 70 staffers let go, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Burbank, CA-based company has also shut down Stage 13 – its shortform digital content studio – with projects in the works to be absorbed into Warner Bros. Television, Yahoo! Finance reported.
DocuSign announced it will lay off 9% of its workforce as part of a major restructuring plan, according to an SEC filing. Gap Inc. plans to cut about 500 corporate jobs in San Francisco, New York and Asia, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Meta (formerly Facebook) gave many of its 83,553 employees a month to apply for different positions within the company, the Wall Street Journal also reported. Similarly, Google informed about 50 employees (roughly half of those employed at the firm’s startup incubator Area 120) they need to find a new internal role within three months if they want to remain employed.
Twilio announced it would lay off 11% of its workforce as part of a major restructuring plan, according to an SEC filing. That same week, Patreon CEO Jack Conte announced in a blog post that the company had laid off 17% of its workforce.
In August, Snap Inc, parent company of Snapchat, planned to lay off approximately 20% of its more than 6,400 employees, which comes out to roughly 1,280 people, The Verge reported. Apple laid off roughly 100 contract-based recruiters one month after announcing plans to slow down hiring. Calm.com has also laid off 20% of its staff, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Sweetgreen announced 5% of its support center workforce will be laid off, CNBC reported. Additionally, the company is downsizing to a smaller office building to lower its operating expenses. Groupon also laid off more than 500 employees, about 15% of its workforce, TechCrunch reported. The merchant development, sales, recruiting, engineering, product and marketing teams were all impacted.
Fender laid off roughly 300 employees, ranging from senior management to production line workers, have been laid off, Guitar.com reported. That followed Robinhood announcing plans to lay off 23% of its workforce. In April, the Menlo Park, CA-based company reduced its headcount by 9% after company shares hit a new low, CNN Business reported.
