After a huge hiring boom in the first quarter, the mortgage industry saw massive layoffs in Q2 due to declining delinquencies and stagnating refinancing activity
After a huge hiring boom in the first quarter, the mortgage industry saw massive layoffs in Q2, according to Mortgage Daily’s Mortgage Employment Index.
Mortgage layoffs exceeded new hires by almost 3,000 in the second quarter as declining delinquency forced mortgage servicers to start slashing jobs. That’s a sharp contrast to Q1, which saw the biggest hiring expansion in nearly four years, according to a COMTEX news release. It’s also a big drop-off from Q2 of 2012, which saw the industry add more than 1,300 jobs.
All told, the industry saw nearly 10,000 layoffs in Q2, and less than 7,000 new hires, according to the release.
And major lenders aren’t immune. In February, JPMorgan Chase announced that it would be releasing between 13,000 and 15,000 people from its mortgage division throughout the year. Wells Fargo, which announced about 350 layoffs in July, said last week that it would be handing about 2,300 more their walking papers.
California saw the worst decline in mortgage jobs in Q2 with a net loss of more than 1,500 positions, according to the Mortgage Employment Index, while Florida fared the best with a net gain of 574.
Some companies did manage to expand their staff during the second quarter. Nationstar led the pack, adding 2,300 jobs. However, Bank of America -- the country’s third-largest mortgage servicer -- fared worse than any other bank, slashing 5,000 positions. Chase also saw losses, cutting 1,826 jobs during the second quarter.
According to COMTEX, layoffs are mounting because of declining delinquency and stagnating refinance activity.
