Wells Fargo to reduce labor force by 10% by 2021

Pointing to customer preferences that have changed market conditions, Wells Fargo announced it will reduce its workforce by up to 10% over the next three years, cutting as many as 26,000 jobs across the country. The company will use layoffs and attrition to reach their labor reduction goals by 2021. The bank plans to close about 1,000 branch locations nationwide over the coming two years, the Houston Chronicle reported. Last month the company announced layoffs of over 600 mortgage employees, according to Reuters. The company cited market conditions for the staff reduction. The company has been scrambling to regain consumer confidence following 2016 scandals that included aggressive sales goals that revealed its own employees were opening unauthorized accounts on behalf of customers. Over 2 million customer accounts were opened without consumer consent in an effort by employees to meet sales expectations. The layoffs, closures and workforce reductions may be the devastating aftershock of the scandal that prompted the company to change its wage structure and sales initiatives.