Countrywide employees are nervous

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-socal12jan12,0,2077530.story?coll=la-home-center

They and those at other firms wonder how many of their jobs will be lost because of cuts at the Calabasas mortgage lender.
By Andrea Chang and Martin Zimmerman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
January 12, 2008

From the local Lamborghini dealership to dry-cleaning shops to office cubicles, the pending sale of Countrywide Financial Corp. prompted a universal question Friday: Now what?

The troubled mortgage lender is a major presence in the business and residential corridor that straddles Los Angeles and Ventura counties on both sides of the 101 Freeway. More than 600 people work at the headquarters complex in Calabasas, with about 4,500 more a few miles to the northwest in Simi Valley.


BAD TIMES: Jorje Cruz, a shuttle bus driver for Countrywide in Simi Valley, has watched the mortgage company’s workforce shrink. Bank of America may refresh the company’s finances.

Thousands more work at sites scattered from the west San Fernando Valley to Thousand Oaks, as well as in offices throughout Southern California.

How many of those jobs will be jettisoned by Bank of America Corp., the North Carolina-based financial giant that has agreed to buy Countrywide for $4.1 billion, is unclear. But when one corporation buys another, it generally expects cost savings, and that usually translates into job cuts.

"You just ruined my day," dry cleaner Doug Tempo said after learning of Countrywide's takeover. "Business is slow enough. I don't need another hit."

Tempo, whose shop is down the street from a pair of Countrywide office buildings in Simi Valley, estimated that he has already lost about 4% of his business because of recent layoffs and transfers at the mortgage lender.

FULL story at link.

[girl gone mad]

1. Well,

Countrywide was likely mere weeks away from bankruptcy anyway. How much do you think B of A was going to lose if Countrywide had gone under? Must have been a lot if they were willing to spend billions on a company with a negative value.

[napi21]

3. My broker told me yesterday that lent Countrywide a VERY LARGE

amount of money a short time ago (in the billions!) that was based upon the assets of CW. Since that loan, the assets of CW have fallen about 75%. He believes B of A was salvaging as much as they could by buying CW.

[Warpy]

4. Yes, and they picked it up for a song and a dance

Forget about that $4 billion you've been reading. The actual number was chump change. They only needed a controlling interest, and they got it on the cheap.

While I feel bad for Countrywide employees, I don't feel quite so bad when I consider some of their business practices. I sincerely hope mass layoffs are preceded by a very careful comb through of the books to see just who the scammers were and where they were concentrated.

I don't think I'd like to be working in a Countrywide office in southern California, Las Vegas or Phoenix just about now, though.

[napi21]

2. I feel bad for the employees, but for sure there will be many job cuts.

The mortgage market is down, which means they will process less loans, and B of A already has a staff of mortgage processors amd ,pst likely won't need to add too many more! B of A WILL be adding a lot more work to their collection/renegotiation section, so maybe some of those employees will be able to transfer there.

[InkAddict]

6. I don't feel bad for them...

They were rude, corrupt, and unscrupulous. Unfortunately, their employees represented one of many worst greedy corporate personhoods in this country second only to the vile selfishness and arrogance of * and his evil puppetmaster Darth Cheney.

[DainBramaged]

5. Neither the fuck who ran Countrywide wide into the ground or bank of America

give a shit about the trickle down effect of the takeover. Nor do they care about the Countrywide employees.