JPMorgan notifies some First Republic employees of job losses: source

JPMORGAN Chase & Co has notified nearly 1,000 First Republic Bank employees that they will no longer have a job as it integrates the failed lender it bought earlier this month, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday (May 25).

JPMorgan, the largest US bank, has offered employment to about 85 per cent of First Republic’s almost 7,000 employees for transitional or full-time roles, the source said. Temporary positions would last an estimated three months to a year, depending on the job, the person said.

“We’ve been transparent with their employees and kept our promise to update them on their employment status within 30 days,” JPMorgan said in an emailed statement.

Employees who have not been offered roles will receive pay and benefits for 60 days and be offered packages that include additional lump sum payments and continuing benefits coverage, the bank said.

First Republic became the largest US bank to fail since 2008 after it was seized by regulators and sold to JPMorgan in early May.

“In connection with any job losses, we would emphasise that in the normal course, JPMorgan hires tens of thousands of people in the United States each and every year, which means that there will be many opportunities for career redeployment,” Jeremy Barnum, JPMorgan’s chief financial officer, told reporters on May 1 when the deal was announced.

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There are more than 13,000 current job openings at JPMorgan, the source said.

First Republic was besieged during the banking crisis in March when depositors fled en masse, spooked by the collapse of two other mid-sized lenders.

Despite receiving a US$30 billion deposit lifeline from 11 major banks, shareholders continued to sell First Republic stock. Depositors pulled US$100 billion from their accounts from the lender in the first quarter, pushing it towards its collapse weeks later.

Bloomberg News was the first to report on job losses. REUTERS