WMC Mortgage Cuts 50% of Staff, ResCap Cuts 1,000

WMC Mortgage, the subprime unit of General Electric Co., announced it would eliminate more than 50% of its staff as Residential Capital, the mortgage unit of GMAC LLC said it was terminating about 1,000 positions in addition to a previous round of 1,000 layoffs from January.Burbank, California-based WMC Mortgage currently employs about 1,470 workers, but plans on slashing that number down to 700.In March, the lender disclosed that it had eliminated 460 positions.The latest round of layoffs follows news that company originations plummeted to $3.4 billion in the first quarter from $9 billion during the previous three months.In addition to the workforce reductions, offices will close in Costa Mesa and San Ramon, California, as well as Addison, Texas.WMC has recently replaced some of the company’s top executives, including the chief executive officer and chief finance officer.GE acquired WMC in 2004, but the subprime unit is estimated to represent just a fraction of a percent of profit at GE in 2006. Meanwhile, Minneapolis-based ResCap said between 600 and 700 workers would lose their jobs by midyear, and a minimum of 300 vacant positions won't be filled. The GMAC unit announced in January it would layoff 800 employees through October and would leave another 200 open job positions vacant.Following the reductions, ResCap will have about 12,000 employees.In the past weeks, the company has also seen the exit of its chief executive officer, chief financial officer and treasurer.