Two major financial institutions are laying off more than 350 Valley workers and closing back-office centers in North Scottsdale and Phoenix.

HSBC Card Services Inc. plans to cut 213 jobs in October and is closing a Scottsdale center that handles credit card service calls. Its parent company, London-based HSBC Holdings, is one of the world's largest financial institutions.

Washington Mutual Inc. is closing its loan fulfillment center in the Biltmore neighborhood and cutting about 140 back-office jobs in the Valley.

The Seattle financial institution is consolidating its network of processing offices throughout the country, dropping the number from 26 to 15. The Phoenix hub is being consolidated into California operations.

The cuts will take effect June 4 and July 2, according to company officials.

The layoffs are among a number of cutbacks announced by well-known Arizona employers in recent weeks.

Washington Mutual employees were alerted in April that their jobs were being eliminated, Washington Mutual spokesman Tim McGarry said. The employees were encouraged to apply for different positions within the company and will be provided severance pay and job-search assistance, he added.

Washington Mutual in February announced the national consolidation would eliminate about 2,500 U.S. jobs. The announcement came a week after the company confirmed plans to open 150 to 200 branches in the U.S.

The Business Journal reported in early March that plans include 10 new Valley branches this year, producing 60 jobs. The new sites will be in the El Mirage and Surprise area; south-central Phoenix, north of Interstate 10; and the Chandler and Gilbert area, south of the U.S. 60.

Washington Mutual, which reports assets in excess of $343 billion, operates 55 branches and employs 360 in Arizona.

HSBC spokesman Steve Cohen said service centers in Duluth, Minn., and Orlando, Fla., also are being shuttered and that some impacted Scottsdale workers may transfer to company locations in Maryland, Oklahoma and Minnesota that will remain open.

In December, HSBC acquired Minnesota-based Metris Cos., which previously operated the soon-to-be-closed Scottsdale office.

HSBC originated as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd., in 1865.

Cohen said the decision is part of ongoing company efforts to improve efficiencies and control costs.

HSBC provides its own credit cards and issues cards through credit-related partnerships with General Motors, the AFL-CIO, Costco and Best Buy.

The company has about 49,000 workers in the U.S., Cohen said.

The companies reported the layoffs, as required by federal employment rules, to the state government.

Other recent layoffs include America Online axing 283 workers in Tucson, and Boeing, which is shedding as many as 150 jobs at its Apache helicopter plant in Mesa.

There are 151,600 financial services employees in the Phoenix metropolitan area. That number is up from 87,000 in 1995, according to the Arizona Department of Economic Security.

That financial growth has been driven by the state and region's population gains as well as the Phoenix and Tucson areas being home to call center operations for credit card, insurance and banking companies.

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By Mike Sunnucks and Chris Casacchia
The Business Journal of Phoenix
 
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Washington Mutual: www.wamu.com.

HSBC Card Services: www.hsbcusa.com.

© 2006 The Business Journal of Phoenix

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