Wells Fargo lays off 112 in Raleigh as major NC employer looks toward automation
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wells Fargo will cut 112 Wake County jobs, effective early April 2026.
- Seventy-three roles tied to loan servicing account for the largest share.
- Company cites efficiency, real estate and automation as drivers of cuts.
Wells Fargo, one of North Carolina’s largest employers, plans to eliminate 112 positions in Wake County.
The layoffs will be effective in early April and predominately impact the company’s chief operating office. Nearly half the cuts affect one position: associate loan servicing representatives.
“These business decisions are never easy,” Christian Stokes, assistant vice president of Wells Fargo’s Displacements Advisory Group, wrote in a Feb. 3 WARN letter to the N.C. Department of Commerce and Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell. “We are very thoughtful and deliberate in our approach, understanding the impact these decisions have on individuals at the company.”
Businesses must file WARN notices to North Carolina officials at least 60 days before conducting certain mass layoffs, including the closing of a site “that affects at least 50 employees during any 30-day period.” Wells Fargo said the layoffs are occurring at its office on Corporate Center Drive in West Raleigh. It declined to say if it is closing that location.
The company previously leased space at a downtown Raleigh tower until the end of 2023.
Based in San Francisco, Wells Fargo is among the four largest banks in the nation. It maintains a significant North Carolina presence; as of last summer, Commerce Department data shows the company was the No. 5 employer statewide and the No. 2 employer in Charlotte’s Mecklenburg County.
Wells Fargo has reduced its total workforce in recent years, from 268,500 employees at the end of 2020 to around 205,000 entering 2026.
“We continue to believe we have significant opportunities to get more efficient across the company,” Wells Fargo chief financial officer Michael Santomassimo said on an earnings call in October. “The areas of focus are broad-based, including third-party spend, real estate costs, and automation opportunities.”
Wells Fargo isn’t alone in deploying more technology; a PwC report last fall declared that artificial intelligence “is redefining the future of banking” by achieving “cost transformation through intelligent automation and agile operations.”
Of the 112 affected Wells Fargo positions in Raleigh, 73 had “loan servicing” in their title.
In an email Thursday to The News & Observer, Wells Fargo’s media team wrote, “We regularly review and adjust staffing levels to align with market conditions and the needs of our businesses.” The company declined to share how automation factored into these cuts.
