JPMorgan Mortgage Layoffs Include 150 in Garden City, N.Y.

JPMorgan Chase said it will lay off more than 150 employees in its Garden City, N.Y., mortgage division, as part of a previously announced broader downsizing.

The bank cited continuous declines in mortgage loan refinancing and new home purchases due to higher interest rates and an overall weak mortgage market as the main reasons behind its decision to reduce staff. Similar measures have been taken recently by other banks including Wells Fargo and Flagstar.

These job cuts are part of the 6,000 JPMorgan plans to let go by the end of 2014, despite efforts to transfer staff if and when possible, which so far this year have resulted in 3,000 reassignments, a company spokesman said.

The Garden City layoffs, scheduled to take place by the end of July, will cut the staff there of nearly 800 by more than 19%, JPMorgan Chase said.

The final number of jobs lost, however, is reportedly lower than the roughly 160 employees JPMorgan Chase said it planned to lay off in a New York State Labor Department notice it filed May 5 in compliance with the state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. The law requires New York companies with more than 50 full-time employees to give those affected by a mass layoff a 90-day notice.

The layoffs follow a non-stellar first-quarter performance and other challenges JPMorgan Chase has been facing in the recent past.

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