Washington Mutual Inc. said Wednesday that by yearend it will open a regional operations center in Texas that could eventually have 4,200 employees.
The center will be in San Antonio (the frontrunner) or the Dallas/Fort Worth area and will more than double the Seattle-based thrift company's staff in the state over the next seven years.
Wamu has spent the past year trimming staff in a major reorganization to cope with the slowdown in the mortgage business. Last year it fired about 5,000 employees and closed 100 retail lending and loan processing offices around the country.
A spokesman said in a phone interview Wednesday that the Texas positions will be new and that Wamu does not plan to move existing positions there. It is not saying what areas of the mortgage business the center will support, he said. Texas Governor Rick Perry and Washington Mutual chairman and chief executive Kerry Killinger announced the plans at a press conference at the state capitol in Austin.
Washington Mutual has more than 240 branches and other outlets in Texas and more than 3,500 employees throughout the state. Nationwide it has about 52,500 employees.
