JPMorgan plan to axe 19,000 jobs in expenses cut

BANKING giant JPMorgan Chase plans to slash up to 19,000 jobs by the end of next year as it looks to cut its overall expenses.

The move, which will see 3,000 to 4,000 posts go this year at its consumer bank, mainly through attrition, comes despite the US group reporting record profits for the past three years.

Between 13,000 and 15,000 jobs are likely to be cut at JPMorgan’s mortgage banking unit, the firm said yesterday in a presentation to investors.

JPMorgan is the biggest US-based bank and, at the end of last year, employed almost 260,000 people globally. Its headcount rose following the financial crisis, to just below 263,000 in the second quarter of 2012 from 219,569 in the first quarter of 2009. Since last year’s second quarter, staffing levels have drifted lower.

The bank has been building more branches even as competitors such as Bank of America have scaled back. But its consumer banking unit is also looking to reduce costs by staffing branches more efficiently.

JPMorgan Chase had 5,614 branches at the end of 2012, making its network the second-biggest in the US behind Wells Fargo. JPMorgan is the number-three player in terms of deposits, behind Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

The bank hopes to sell more services, such as wealth management, at its branches, and allow its automated teller machines to handle more routine transactions such as cheque deposits. JPMorgan said it is aiming to cut expenses by $1 billion (£661 million) in 2013.