JPMorgan Chase & Co., which acquired the collapsed Washington Mutual Inc, will be eliminating more than 20% of WaMu’s work force - cutting 9,200 jobs nationwide.
As of the end of the third quarter, JPMorgan Chase reported that Washington Mutual had nearly 42,000 employees.

Once the largest savings and loan in the country, Seattle-based WaMu collapsed due to bad bets on mortgages, resulting in the largest bank failure in US history. New York-based JPMorgan bought most of the failed savings and loan for $1.9 billion in September, including the branches and deposits, after the thrift was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. 

JPMorgan spokesman, Thomas Kelly, said in an e-mail that the bank intends cutting 4,000 jobs, and putting 5,200 employees on a transition team. Those employees will help integrate the banks and some will remain in the positions until the end of next year.

According to the Seattle Times, WaMu’s former Seattle headquarters will account for 3,400 of the job cuts. Nearly 1,600 jobs in Pleasanton and San Francisco, California, will also be cut, mostly in back- office operations.