CALABASAS, Calif., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Countrywide Financial Corp., based in California, announced Friday that as many as 12,000 of its staffers could be out of work soon.
The largest lender in the United States said it would cut the number of jobs by about 20 percent, The Los Angeles Times reported. It said loan volume is expected to fall 25 percent in 2008.
Countrywide had already said it will shift from riskier mortgages to ones that can be sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Officials repeated the promise Friday.
Those loans are less profitable for lenders.
Chairman and Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo, in a letter to employees, said the company has to cut costs.
"Unfortunately, the only way to accomplish this is to make significant reductions in our workforce," Mozilo said.
The job cuts will include 1,400 already announced layoffs in the total.
