First Niagara Eliminating 180 Jobs

The ax is falling on some employees of one of the Northeast biggest banks.

First Niagara Financial Group (FNFG) in Buffalo is cutting about 180 jobs throughout its four-state region, the bank confirmed Thursday.

The $35 billion-asset bank, which acquired 100 branches and $9.8 billion in deposits from HSBC in May for $900 million, said the cuts represent an effort to adjust staffing in response to business needs and that the company is recruiting to fill more than 250 open positions simultaneously.

"We're simply running our business the way that we always have — and ensuring that we have the right people in the right positions to best support our growth strategy," spokesman David Lanzillo wrote in an email.

News of the job cuts was first reported by the Buffalo News.

Of the 180 jobs eliminated, roughly 30 are in building and facilities maintenance roles the company has decided to outsource to a supplier, according to Lanzillo. He added that about half the maintenance workers have received job offers from the new firm.

"We are also replacing more than 50 positions elsewhere in the company — so the net impact will be approximately 100 positions, or less than 2% of our workforce," added Lanzillo. Lanzillo said some of the employees who lose their positions may be able to apply for other openings at the company.

First Niagara's deal with HSBC added 1,200 former HSBC employees to First Niagara's payroll. In all, First Niagara operates 430 branches and employs about 6,000 people in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.