California Federal Savings & Loan plans to...

California Federal Savings & Loan plans to lay off 340 workers in three states as a general cost-economy move, a spokesman for the Los Angeles-based financial institution said. The cuts will reduce the firm’s 5,500-person work force by about 6%. Hardest hit will be the operations in Florida, where 150 of 800 employees are being laid off, largely because the S&L;, one of the nation’s largest, is replacing salaried loan officers with loan agents who work on commission, the spokesman said. Other layoffs include 40 out of 170 employees in the Nevada operations and 150 people in California, where the S&L; has about 4,500 employees.