South Carolina WaMu Employees Laid Off

Florence, SC—More than 500 workers at Washington Mutual’s mortgage processing office in Florence will lose their jobs as the company is taken over by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase spokeswoman Nancy Norris told WBTW-TV that the jobs will be phased out over the next year, leaving just 380 people at the center by the end of 2009.

Norris says 120 workers were given 60-day notices this week.

The rest of the employees losing their jobs will work for at least the next several months helping with the takeover.

The workers will get severance packages and other compensation.

Last year, the mortgage processing center was one of Florence County’s largest employers with 1,150 workers.