First Republic hit with 1,000 job cuts after California bank was seized and sold to JPMorgan

By KEN SWEET
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — About 1,000 employees of First Republic Bank are being let go about a month after it was seized by regulators and acquired by JP Morgan Chase.

The vast majority of First Republic employees, roughly 7,200 before it ran into trouble, were offered jobs by JPMorgan, meaning that about 15% of the bank’s employees laid off.

When First Republic failed and was bought by JPMorgan on May 1, JPMorgan executives said they planned to take 30 days to figure out new roles for the First Republic employees and that not every employee would be guaranteed a job.

“We recognize that they have been under stress and uncertainty since March and hope that today will bring clarity and closure,” the bank said in a written statement.

First Republic cut roughly 25% of its workforce before JPMorgan stepped in. Bank employees that are not being offered jobs at JPMorgan will get an additional 60 days of pay and benefits, the bank said. Additional payments to those being let go will be based on how long they worked at First Republic.

First Republic Bank, based in San Francisco, became the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history. Regulators sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase to restore order after three banks, including Signature and Silicon Valley banks, collapsed and threatened to undermine faith in the U.S. banking system.

The banks were unique, however, due to the large, uninsured deposits held by their customers and exposure to the tech industry, which had been hammered by rising interest rates that made borrowing more expensive.