900 more Countrywide Layoffs

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

News item from the AP tonight: ‘Struggling mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. said Wednesday it will cut about 900 more jobs nationwide, primarily from its mortgage production divisions. The cuts followed the elimination of about 500 positions last month.’

There had been widespread speculation of another round of layoffs at Countrywide, and guesstimates have usually run much higher than 900 jobs. This is from Maria Bartiromo’s Business Week column of Aug. 29: ‘Now sources tell me the embattled (Countrywide CEO Angelo) Mozilo will soon announce layoffs of about 10% of Countrywide’s 60,000 employees in the face of a 20% decline in the mortgage business.’

The announced layoffs to date -- 1,400 positions -- add up to a little more than 2% of Countrywide’s head count. That seems like a low number given the turmoil at the company and the expectation it will pull back severely from sub-prime and other non-conforming loan markets. This leads us to believe there may be more layoffs coming.

Your thoughts? Comments? Insights? E-mail story tips to lalandblog@yahoo.com
Photo Credit: Reuters