Local mortgage-related layoffs in thousands
Kira Bindrim
August 28. 2007 3:07PM
The fallout from the mortgage crisis has
claimed thousands of local jobs.
“So far we’ve seen triple the number of cuts
in the mortgage area that we saw last year,
and it’s only August,” said Chief Executive
John Challenger, chief executive of global
outplacement firm Challenger Gray &
Christmas. Job losses in August throughout
New York and New Jersey topped 10,000,
according to Challenger.
On Tuesday, CIT Group became the latest
casualty, saying it would shutter its
mortgage origination unit and cut 500 jobs.
Earlier this month, McLean, Va.-based Capital
One Financial Corp. closed its Melville,
L.I.-based GreenPoint mortgage unit and laid
off 1,900 workers, 120 of them in New York.
One of the hardest hit was Melville,
L.I.-based American Home Mortgage Investment
Corp. The lender filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection on Aug. 6 and slashed
about 90% of its 7,500-person staff,
including 1,500 jobs at its Long Island
headquarters. Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. also
reported 240 subprime-related layoffs.
Woodbury, L.I.-based Delta Financial Corp.
announced a total of 300 local layoffs and
Valhalla, N.Y.-based Columbia Home Loans said
it will shut down and lay off its 125
employees by Sept. 30. In New Jersey, Budd
Lake, N.J.-based Alterna Mortgage and Warren,
N.J.-based Lancaster Mortgage Bankers will
close, while Marlton, N.J.-base dPopular
Financial Holdings will shutter its subprime
unit. In total, those three companies are
shedding approximately 700 jobs.
The deep job cuts are prompting some workers
to try and get in front of any bad news.
Steven Speter, managing director of Melville,
L.I.-based Lloyd Staffing, says his firm has
seen a number of employees looking for
alternative positions.
“Every day, we get calls from people we’ve
never heard of before, and they’re sending
their resumes over unsolicited,” he said.
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