After eliminating more than 4,000 mortgage jobs in the first half of this year, Wells Fargo & Co. is now hiring processors and underwriters.
In its first-quarter earnings report, the San Francisco-based company disclosed that more than 4,500 mortgage jobs would be eliminated as a result of falling originations. Around 2,500 layoffs occurred in the first quarter, while another 2,000 were planned for the second quarter.
Now, the country’s biggest mortgage lender is in recruitment mode.
A spokesman for the company confirmed that 110 mortgage jobs are being filled in Denver.
The hiring includes at least 50 interim processor positions.
Many of the first-half layoffs involved interim employees temporarily hired to handle elevated refinance volume.
As mortgage rates have recently touched record lows, industry-wide new activity has soared. The weekly volume of loan pricing inquiries during August has ranged from 50 percent higher to more than double the level of activity during July, based on the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from Mortech Inc. and MortgageDaily.com.
Wells was the biggest mortgage originator in the second quarter with $64 billion in production. It also ranked No. 1 for all of 2010 with volume of $387 billion.
The recent rate movements could push Wells’ quarterly production past $100 billion.
In addition to the interim processors being recruited, the company is adding 60 permanent underwriters.
Wells hopes to fill the open positions with a job fair being held today in Denver.
The hirings were first reported by KUSA-TV.
