Prudential Lays Off 57

Prudential Home Mortgage Co., facing a slower market for its fixed-rate loans with the recent rise in interest rates, laid off 57 workers at its loan processing center here this week as part of a 12% reduction in staff nationwide.

The layoffs at the Costa Mesa facility, one of the company’s four loan processing centers across the nation, cut Prudential’s staff here to 205, a spokesman for the Clayton, Mo., lender said.

The layoffs, announced Thursday, came with four weeks notice and a severance package that includes health-care benefits, outplacement help and continuation of other benefits for limited periods.

Prudential Home Mortgage, a subsidiary of Prudential Insurance Co. in Newark, N.J., said earlier this week that it would lay off a total of 600 workers systemwide.