The parent company of Zions Bank will be laying off about 5% of its workforce, the company announced Tuesday.
The “near-term workforce reduction” at Zions Bancorporation was announced during an earnings call to investors, as “an acceleration of or drive toward improving operating efficiency,” said Harris Simmons, the company’s chairman and CEO.
Zions Bancorporation, a financial holding company based in Salt Lake City, employs approximately 10,000 people in 11 Western states. That means some 500 people will lose their jobs.
About 30% of the layoffs would be employees who deal directly with the public, while the remaining 70% would be in enterprise activities and behind the scenes. A few bank branches will be closed or relocated; executives did not specify how many, but it would be “a modest trimming of the branch footprint,” said Scott McLean, the company’s president and chief operating officer.
The layoff announcement came after a third-quarter earnings report, issued Tuesday. The company reported third-quarter earnings of $222 million, or $1.17 a share, outdoing Wall Street expectations, the Associated Press reported.
The company posted revenue of $823 million in the third quarter, the AP reported.
