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Wells Fargo cutting 3,800 workers in next year

Wells Fargo & Co. said Wednesday it's laying off 3,800 employees over the next year as part of a restructuring of its consumer finance unit.
/ Source: The Associated Press

Wells Fargo & Co. said Wednesday it's laying off 3,800 employees over the next year as part of a restructuring of its consumer finance unit.

The San Francisco-based bank is consolidating Wells Fargo Financial into its community banking network. The company says 638 independent consumer finance offices will be closed as a result.

In addition, Wells Fargo said it will longer originate non-prime mortgage loans.

The layoffs represent about 27 percent of Wells Fargo Financial's 14,000 employees. The company says 2,800 positions will be eliminated in the next two months, and another 1,000 positions will be cut in the next year.

Wells Fargo has more than 278,000 employees.

The remaining employees at Wells Fargo Financial offices will be reassigned to other Wells Fargo businesses.

The changes won't impact Wells Fargo and Wachovia community banks across the country, the bank said.

Wells Fargo bought Wachovia in December 2008.

Wells Fargo said the restructuring will result in 2 cents per share charge in the second quarter. Analysts had been expecting the bank to earn 49 cents per share in the second quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.

The remaining restructuring charges will be recorded in the second half of the year.