Wells Fargo reducing national workforce by up to 10% in next three years

In an undated handout photo, a Wells Fargo branch in New York. A confidential report sent to Well Fargo in October of 2017, prepared by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and reviewed by The New York Times, criticizes the bank for forcing hundreds of thousands of borrowers to buy unneeded auto insurance when they took out a car loan, as well as its handling of the problems once they were detected. (Ali Asaei via The New York Times) -- NO SALES; FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY WITH WELLS FARGO REPORT BY GRETCHEN MORGENSON FOR OCT. 21, 2017. ALL OTHER USE PROHIBITED. -- less In an undated handout photo, a Wells Fargo branch in New York. A confidential report sent to Well Fargo in October of 2017, prepared by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and reviewed by The New York ... more Photo: ALI ASAEI, HO Photo: ALI ASAEI, HO Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close Wells Fargo reducing national workforce by up to 10% in next three years 1 / 26 Back to Gallery

Wells Fargo said it will cut as many 26,000 jobs over the next three years, citing changing customer preferences as more people bank electronically.

Wells Fargo said it will cut 5 percent to 10 percent of its more than 260,000 employees through layoffs and attrition. The bank declined to detail how many jobs will be lost in Houston.

Wells Fargo is the Houston area's second largest bank by deposits. Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan was in Houston last month and addressed branch closures during a town hall with employees. He said the bank plans to close some 1,000 branches nationwide over the next several years, and employees wanted to know how that would affect Houston.

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The bank has struggled with its image since September 2016, when Wells Fargo made national headlines for aggressive sales goals that prompted employees to open millions of unauthorized accounts. Then came a seemingly endless stream of allegations.

Earlier this month, for instance, the Wall Street Journal cited people familiar with the matter to report a Justice Department probe on whether employees committed fraud in the bank's wholesale banking unit.

In the news release announcing the workforce reduction, Sloan said that Wells Fargo has "robust programs" to help laid-off employees find other jobs with the bank.

"Wells Fargo takes very seriously any change that involves its team members, and as always, we will be thoughtful and transparent, and treat team members with respect," Sloan said in the news release.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest Houston-area bank in terms of deposits, announced local layoffs last week. It's laying off 102 people in Houston as their tasks are reassigned to employees in other part of the country.

The JPMorgan workers losing their jobs provided support to bank branches in the areas of workforce management as well as fraud and customer protection services, according to documents released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission.