More layoffs in the mortgage industry
Uncategorized November 21st, 2007
Orange County, California was the epicenter of the subprime mortgages in the days of the housing boom. Now, those same mortgage companies are laying off thousands of employees and the Southern California economy is feeling the pain.
The Orange County Register has an excellent article telling the stories of several mortgage workers who are now looking for jobs in the retail industry.
Delia DeYulia, a grandmother, was recently forced to take her first retail job.
For the holiday shopping season, DeYulia, 53, is working part-time at Kohl’s, placing clothes on racks and cleaning dressing rooms. She resorted to taking the temporary work after not finding other employment. After 15 years with Fremont Investment and Loan, she lost her mortgage job in Anaheim Hills in March.
“I’m used to sitting in an office,” said DeYulia, who audited loans at Fremont, a firm from which she expected to retire. “Now, I’m on my feet all day. I’m carrying a lot of stuff and my body has to get used to it. It’s hard work for a minimum-wage job.”
She earns $7.75 an hour at Kohl’s. At Fremont, she made about $60,000 a year, or the equivalent of nearly $30 an hour.
