Fifth Third lays off local employees

Alexander Coolidge | Cincinnati Enquirer

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Fifth Third has laid off an undisclosed number of employees throughout the Cincinnati region, bank officials have confirmed.

The job cuts were across several departments and affected offices and branches across the region. But they were spread out and did not trigger a mandatory layoff notice to the state of Ohio.

"There have been some reductions. From time to time, we make adjustments when there is not a good match-up between staffing, market demand and the operating environment," said Fifth Third spokesman Larry Magnesen. "Fifth Third has long had an approach of managing staff carefully and making ongoing adjustments. That has helped avoid large, broad-based reductions."

Magnesen added the bank is also hiring for other positions not eliminated or cut back and has more than 1,100 open positions. He also noted the bank employs 7,500 in the region, up 800 jobs in the last five years.

The cuts come six months after Fifth Third credited the late 2017 tax cut signed into law by Donald Trump for its decision to raise minimum worker pay to $15 per hour and award bonuses. CEO Greg Carmichael was at an awkward Cincinnati event with Trump when the president called Democrats "treasonous."

Bank officials said the cuts are unrelated to the pending takeover of Chicago's MB Financial announced last month.

Enquirer media partner Fox19 contributed.