BoA: Some Layoffs Mortgage-Related

Bank of America will lay off and provide severance packages to an undisclosed number of mortgage-related staff as the company cuts 4,500 positions across all its global business lines to reduce its total employment by about 2.5%.A spokeswoman told MortgageWire that she could not comment on how many mortgage-related positions would be affected, but noted that "one of the three drivers of this reduction was in fact the decrease in mortgage refinancing." The spokeswoman said BoA has "right-sized" the mortgage business "to meet customer demand, which has decreased." According to the company, the job reductions "begin this month" and "will be in predominantly non-customer-facing positions." The company says it expects that severance packages will result in an expense of approximately $150 million over the next three quarters, but believes the move will ultimately allow the company to operate more efficiently. Bank of America can be found on the Web at http://www.bankofamerica.com.