Countrywide Plans to Cut As Many as 12,000 Jobs

[Purveyor]

Source: Wall Street Journal Online

Countrywide Financial Corp. is expected to announce plans to reduce its work force over the next three months by 10,000 to 12,000 jobs, representing as much as 20% of the current total.

The largest U.S. home-mortgage lender also expects that its loan originations in 2008 will be about 25% lower than this year.

The company is retrenching to focus on relatively conservative loans that it can hold as long-term investments in its savings bank unit or sell to government-backed investors Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
The company also will aim to make loans that can be insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

The job cuts may be smaller if the market improves, company officials say.



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118919813950820850.html?mod=yahoo_hs&ru=yahoo

[Roland99]

1. Ouch!

[neverforget]

2. But will the company survive the crash.......

[Demeter]

3. On the Other Hand, It Could Be Much, Much Worse

In fact, I'd lay odds on it--5 to 1.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

4. The Funniest Line Of The Article

"The job cuts may be smaller if the market improves, company officials say."

I'm willing to bet it won't improve.

[L0oniX]

5. I paid off my mortgage with them ...they can go f*ck them selves!