Thousands get the axe as mortgage layoffs continue

The nation’s biggest home lender is cutting thousands of jobs from its mortgage production division in a new round of layoffs

The nation’s biggest home lender is cutting thousands of jobs from its mortgage production division.

Wells Fargo, which with a staff of about 274,000 is the largest employer among U.S. banks, will axe about 2,300 employees in its mortgage unit, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The banking giant has already given several hundred people their walking papers, announcing smaller rounds of layoffs in July and earlier this month. In July, Wells Fargo gave about 350 employees in their mortgage division 60 days’ notice. In August, another 763 got pink slips.

The latest round of job cuts is set to affect employees across the country, a Wells Fargo spokesman told the Journal. The spokesman would not reveal if the bank plans to cut more staff in the future.

Wells Fargo has said that it expects higher interest rates to slow the demand for refinancing in the coming months.

“The low interest rate environment of the past few years allowed us to staff up to meet the demand we were seeing,” Wells Fargo spokeswoman Angie Kaipust said following the July layoff announcement. “As this fast-paced demand for refinancing is slowing somewhat, we need to reduce staff to align with the business need.”

Wells Fargo posted record profits of $5.56 billion in the second quarter.