Lower Refinancings Bring Mortgage Worker Layoffs at Wells Fargo

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
By Jon C. Ogg Updated Published

Invalid Image
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) may be Warren Buffett’s favorite bank hands down and it may be the safest of the money center and banking giants now. It turns out that if you work for that bank in the mortgage services unit, it might not be the safest bank when it comes to job security. Reports hit late in the day on Wednesday from Bloomberg, CNBC, and other media outlets that Wells Fargo was laying off some 2,300 mortgage related jobs. It turns out that the refinancing boom has been crushed by a 100 to 125 basis point rise in mortgages.

The home-lending unit is based in Des Moines, Iowa and the cuts are being spread out around the nation. Frankly, this is not that surprising when you consider what has happened with interest rates. In fact, refinancings were peaking even before mortgage rates hit a low because those who could refinance had already done so.

It turns out that this will make the total layoffs since July come to roughly 3,000. Wells Fargo is the king of mortgage banking, which means it also has the most to lose in opportunity costs. The bank’s total headcount of almost 275,000 workers implies that just over 1% will have been let go. Whether or not more jobs will be terminated if rates keep rising and/or if housing slows is up to you to decide.

Wells Fargo closed down 0.5% at $42.36 against a 52-week range of $31.25 to $44.79.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. www.247wallst.com.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

ABNB Vol: 15,913,532
MCHP Vol: 19,139,274
PLTR Vol: 77,244,625
MRNA Vol: 6,820,582
AXON Vol: 1,591,869

Top Losing Stocks

TTD Vol: 133,458,224
CTRA Vol: 73,319,495
AKAM Vol: 8,143,961
ZTS Vol: 12,784,553
RMD Vol: 3,810,438