WMC Cuts 500 More, Gets LOC From GE

Hammered by the meltdown in the subprime sector, the General Electric-owned WMC Mortgage slashed 500 jobs -- including most of its junior account executive sales force -- on March 22 while its president testified before the Senate Banking Committee.A WMC spokeswoman confirmed that layoffs had occurred March 22 but would not provide a head count or job type. The jobs cuts were reported to MortgageWire by industry sources. A few weeks ago WMC laid off 460. One former employee told MW that president and chief executive Laurent Bossard said in a recent sales call with account executives that he wished the company would not receive any loan files for 90 days because Wall Street firms are not buying product. The former employee, requesting anonymity, was recently laid off. The WMC spokeswoman said she would not comment on what she called "second-hand information." The former employee also said WMC is now relying on financing from a GE unit. The spokeswoman declined to comment. Mr. Bossard testified before the Senate Banking Committee on conditions in the subprime market. (See the March 26 issue of National Mortgage News for complete details.)