Originally published November 21, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Page modified November 21, 2008 at 9:02 AM
Comments (0)
E-mail article
Print view
WaMu cuts 1,600 Bay Area jobs
About 1,600 Washington Mutual employees in the San Francisco Bay Area will lose their jobs in the next few months, according to spokeswoman Darcy Donahoe-Wilmot.
About 1,600 Washington Mutual employees in the San Francisco Bay Area will lose their jobs in the next few months, according to spokeswoman Darcy Donahoe-Wilmot.
They include 1,200 jobs in Pleasanton, where the Seattle thrift has a call center for credit cards and consumer banking, and 400 positions at a San Francisco operations center that handles bank card services, according to the news site InsideBayArea.com.
Both centers are scheduled to close.
The job cuts are part of JPMorgan Chase's effort to cut costs in the wake of its acquisition of WaMu. JPMorgan acquired WaMu after the bank failed on Sept. 25.
About 3,000 of WaMu's 4,200 jobs in Seattle also are expected to be cut as a result of that deal, according to current and recently departed WaMu executives. Officials have not confirmed that figure and said all of WaMu's 43,200 employees will know about their job status by Dec. 1.
The San Francisco and Pleasanton job eliminations "will cause no change for WaMu bank customers," WaMu spokesman Gary Kishner told InsideBayArea.com.
WaMu has about 13,000 workers in California, he said.
Many of the workers will leave at the end of January, while others will be offered positions in other parts of JPMorgan, the site reported. People who leave will receive severance packages and job placement counseling.
JPMorgan does not have a precise timetable for changing branch names from WaMu to Chase, but Kishner told the news site it probably will be in the latter half of 2009.
Few if any cutbacks are anticipated at the existing WaMu bank branches in California, where Chase has no branches, he said.
Melissa Allison: 206-464-3312 or mallison@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
More Business & Technology headlines...
E-mail article
Print view Share:
Digg
Newsvine
![]()
Retail Report: Pacific Place not ready to see J.Jill go
Google CEO: New operating system changes the game
UPDATE - 04:21 PM
CEO vows better performance as GM exits bankruptcy
AIG to pay millions in bonuses to top execs — again
UPDATE - 03:40 PM
Regulators put Seattle Bank on tighter leash

Gen. David Petraeus: Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
Watch highlights of General David Petraeus discussing the Iraq and Afghanistan War at the Global Leadership Series sponsored by the World Affairs Council.
Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
shopping

events for Friday, Jul. 10th
- IKEA Summer Sale
- Impulse + Totokaelo Spring Inventory...
- Julep Nail Parlor "Sandal-Ready and S...
- Jaxx Boutik Summer Sale
editors' picks
More shopping guides- Worker dies in chocolate vat; plant didn't have license
- Seattle-area homebuilder losing projects to foreclosure
- Health-plan costs soar for individuals
- Chase won't pay for Seattle's Lake Union fireworks next year
- The end of the light-line line, for now: Tukwila's "Taj Mahal" station
- Trees vs. houses: Narrow, leafy street is last chance for two Madrona homes waiting to be moved
- Mariners trade Yuniesky Betancourt to Royals
- Mariners Blog | Yuniesky Betancourt traded to Royals for two minor league pitchers
- Mariners Blog | Deals involving Mariners shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez not automatically related
- World's largest solar plant may be built in Cle Elum
- Health-plan costs soar for individuals
597 - Texas Rangers at Seattle Mariners: 07/09 game thread
243 - Yuniesky Betancourt traded to Royals for two minor league pitchers
237 - Chase won't pay for next year's Lake Union fireworks
237 - Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik again declines to quell Yuniesky Betancourt trade rumors
183 - World's largest solar plant may be built in Cle Elum
131 - The end of the line, for now: Tukwila is the jewel in the crown of Link
123 - Deals involving Mariners shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez not automatically related
105 - Franklin Gutierrez bails Mariners out in a 3-1 win
77 - Group hopes to build 75-megawatt solar park near Cle Elum
68
- Seattle-area homebuilder losing projects to foreclosure
- World's largest solar plant may be built in Cle Elum
- Health-plan costs soar for individuals
- Group hopes to build 75-megawatt solar park near Cle Elum
- Worker dies in chocolate vat; plant didn't have license
- Grab the kids and hop on Amtrak for a stress-free getaway to Portland
- Trees vs. houses: Narrow, leafy street is last chance for two Madrona homes waiting to be moved
- Local Smith & Hawken garden stores to close
- During financial crisis, the business of college sports is complicated by Title IX
- Lavender tour on Vashon Island leads round of festivals
