More Pink Slip Boohoo for WAMU

"Washington Mutual will lay off about 550 workers this summer at its regional operations center in Baymeadows."

"The layoffs will reduce Washington Mutual's work force from 2,300 to about 1,750 at the local center, which handles telephone sales and service for the mortgage and consumer lending units. The first 135 cuts will be made by July 21, with the remainder coming by Sept. 29."

'"There are 550 employees that were notified [today] that their jobs will be eliminated," said Nova Barnett, vice president and manager of Southeast public relations for Washington Mutual. "This goes back to our November announcement about a series of initiatives to reduce administrative costs."'.

"Most of the jobs will be outsourced to a vendor based in the Philippines, with the rest moving to Washington Mutual locations in Milwaukee and Albion, N.Y."

"The layoffs weren't the only ones announced Tuesday by Washington Mutual. "We also announced 850 additional jobs [will be cut] for the same unit for a facility north of Seattle," Barnett said."