Mat Ishbia, president and CEO of Pontiac-based mortgage lender United Shore Financial Services LLC, on Thursday promised no job losses of any kind at his company of roughly 5,800 people.

During a conference call with those employees Thursday, Ishbia acknowledged that the mortgage company is all but assured to enter a downturn as the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the U.S. economy to a halt and job losses have mounted to massive numbers in just a matter of weeks. But Ishbia stressed that the "family company" mantra espoused by many workplaces needs to be in place during both good and bad economic times.

"United Shore is your family, so there's no layoffs, just so you guys know," Ishbia said. "Nobody. Not one person is going to get laid off. I'll sleep on your couch before I lay someone off."

The mortgage chief emphasized to workers that this time will call for hard work and that more will be expected of everyone in the company in order to get through, including himself.

"I've got your back and you've got my back," Ishbia said, but added that employees need to "get ready to do more."

Initially Ishbia told employees that he expects a relatively shallow economic downturn of around three to six months, but later acknowledged that no one knows how bad things could get, noting that the mortgages could drop off by more than 50 percent.

Matthew Graham, COO of mortgage industry trade publication Mortgage News Daily, wrote Wednesday that the economic damage brought about the virus could make for a watershed moment for the industry.

"Truth be told, if I only had a few clients with a few superficial gripes about their stark new realities, I wouldn't have anything to write about here," Graham wrote. "But the fact is that the mortgage market is facing a massive existential threat that will manifest itself in ways that may not be readily apparent to policymakers. These are the questions and concerns that need to be on the table for discussion."

While the full economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak remains unclear, Ishbia has previously stressed that another recession similar to 2008 would be far from the doom of his company, and rather would present an opportunity for further growth.

"Our business model is set up for sustainable growth. Mortgage markets are very cyclical," Ishbia told Crain's earlier this year. "When it's good for everybody, it's not as good for United Shore. When it's bad, it's not as bad (for us). We're kind of in a much tighter window based on our business model. If 2008 happened, obviously we wouldn't grow more, but we'd still grow our market share."

Speaking to United Shore employees on Thursday, Ishbia expressed a similar sense of optimism.

"The nice part about this, if there's a silver lining, it's that the mortgage industry ... will bring people out of this," Ishbia said. "We'll bring people out this together, stronger. Because rates are going to stay low, there's going to be an opportunity to take great care of people."