Wells Fargo Will Cut Workforce

Wells Fargo & Co said on Thursday it would reduce its headcount by about 5% to 10% within the next three years as part of a turnaround plan, Reuters reported. As of June 30, the nation’s fourth largest bank had roughly 264,500 employees, making a 10% reduction representative of about 26,450 jobs. Wells Fargo said the latest reduction would reflect displacements as well as normal team-member attrition.  The cuts will help Wells reach its goal of reducing costs by $4 billion by 2020 as it tries to grow profits and recover from a series of scandals while operating under the Federal Reserve’s asset cap. Wells Fargo has also said it will reduce its branch count by about 800 by 2020 and sell non-core businesses to lower costs and become more efficient. Last month the bank laid off 600 employees in its mortgage division which has faced headwinds amid a slowdown in refinancing demand. The layoffs were not a surprise according to Keefe Bruyette & Woods analyst Brian Kleinhanzl and that sentiment was reflected in Wall Street’s muted reaction to the news. The stock rose 0.6% to $55.55 during Thursday trading.