Washington Mutual cuts 140 jobs

LYNNWOOD – Washington Mutual announced plans Wednesday to cut 140 loan processing jobs in Lynnwood by the end of the year.

The Seattle-based bank’s step brings the total number of jobs eliminated in the Puget Sound area this year to more than 1,000. Many of them will be sent overseas or to other Washington Mutual sites across the nation.

And this latest round of layoffs may not be Washington Mutual’s last.

“More reductions are possible,” said Tim McGarry, vice president of corporate public relations. “It is true that there may be more in the future.”

McGarry could not say whether those reductions would occur in Washington.

The Lynnwood layoffs demonstrate the bank’s efforts to more effectively manage expenses and position itself for future growth, he said. Between the end of the first and second quarters, Washington Mutual has laid off 4,000 employees nationwide.

In May, Washington Mutual cut 850 jobs at its Canyon Park call center in Bothell, sending an unspecified number of those jobs overseas. The previous month, the bank moved about 100 jobs from the Canyon Park call center to Texas.

All 140 people affected by Wednesday’s announcement will be guaranteed work for the next 60 days, with some jobs lasting as long as the end of the year. The bank will transfer about 40 of the jobs offshore and 100 to other sites in the United States, McGarry said.

Washington Mutual is offering severance packages and assistance in finding new jobs. And the company encourages laid off employees to look for other positions within Washington Mutual, McGarry said.