JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Wednesday that it is eliminating 376 positions, or about half the staff in two of its three home equity servicing centers.
The move is in response to a slowdown in home equity lending, JPMorgan Chase said.
For the third quarter the New York banking company posted a 77% year-over-year decline in home equity lending volume, though Christine Holevas, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan Chase, said Wednesday afternoon that it is "still committed to the business."
"We made this decision to match the size of the business with the size of the staff," Ms. Holevas said.
The company eliminated 266 jobs in the home equity group at the Milwaukee office and 110 in its Phoenix home equity office, Ms. Holevas said.
She said a third office, in Columbus, Ohio, was "not affected at all."
The employees whose jobs are being cut were given 60 days' notice Wednesday.
Ms. Holevas said JPMorgan Chase did not envision making further staff reductions in the home equity business in the immediate future.
"We feel that we have taken the appropriate steps based on the business … and what we project in the future," she said.
