The beleaguered bank has pledged to eliminate at least 10,000 jobs over the course of three years
Wells Fargo has announced that it will eliminate 400 jobs at a Minneapolis/St. Paul-area customer service center.
About half of the jobs will come from a phone bank that answers customer calls, while others will come from a department that fields customer inquiries through text or email, according to a report by The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
A spokesperson told the Business Journal that employees would begin receiving layoff notices in November, with job cuts continuing through January.
Wells Fargo has been shrinking its workforce throughout the country since a September 2018 announcement that it would cut 5% to 10% of its total staff – at least 10,000 jobs – within three years. In November, the banking giant announced the elimination of 900 home lending jobs.
The job cuts come as Wells Fargo struggles to overcome a spate of scandals that have impacted its bottom line and cost two consecutive CEOs their jobs. Former CEO John Stumpf stepped down shortly after the bank’s fake-accounts scandal – in which it was revealed that employees had opened millions of unauthorized customer accounts – broke in late 2016. Stumpf’s successor, Tim Sloan, stepped down abruptly in March amid increased scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers as the bank’s scandals continued to mount. The bank is currently without a permanent CEO.
Wells Fargo’s stock has had a rough year so far, more than 15% off its highs, according to a Seeking Alpha report – and some market watcher predict that the stock may tumble by 9% or more this year.
