TO CLOSE

Dozens of protesters gathered in downtown Des Moines while Wells Fargo was holding its annual shareholder meeting in Iowa.
Rodney White / The Registry

The photo of the case taken in 2013 shows a branch of Wells Fargo Bank connected to the headquarters of the US giant's bank in San Francisco, California.(Photo: JOHN G. MABANGLO, EPA-EFE)

Wells Fargo, the largest private employer in the metropolitan area of ​​Des Moines, will lay off 400 people, company officials said Thursday.

Local bank spokesman Steve Carlson said the company had briefed employees of the home loan department on Thursday. Approximately 1,000 positions were cut across the company, including consumer credit, payments, virtual solutions and innovations.

"This very difficult decision was made after much thought and attention," Carlson said. "This in no way reflects the quality or performance of these team members, and the team members affected by these changes have each been an essential part of our success."

Wells Fargo employs over 15,500 people in Iowa, including approximately 14,000 in the Des Moines agglomeration. The national mortgage division of the bank is based here. The news of local layoffs came just days after Nationwide, another major employer in Des Moines, announced that it would remove 80 local jobs.

The San Francisco-based banking giant announced in September its intention to reduce its national workforce by more than 26,000 jobs. The bank has been under fire since the revelation in 2016 that employees had fraudulently opened millions of fake accounts to reach their sales targets.

More: Despite many scandals, Wells Fargo still dominates the Iowa banking market. Here's why.

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With few exceptions, most of the 400 cuts to Des Moines are attributable to workers in insurance groups, investor claims and outstanding accounts payable. Carlson said that the number of claims handled by the team had decreased by nearly 70% since January 2017 due to positive improvements in the housing economy and lower delinquency of clients .

Many affected employees have received notice, which means that they will not receive 60 days' notice before next year. The other workers in the home loan team received Thursday 60-day notice informing them of the removal of their positions.

Carlson said the bank had created more than 350 jobs in Iowa, most in the Des Moines area. Leaders also expect nearly 300 new job opportunities to be published in the next 30 days. The workers concerned were encouraged to apply for these positions.

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