One down, eleven to go plus the big kahuna in DC.
Federal Reserve Bank here checks out
Monday, December 19, 2011
By Len Boselovic , Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Federal Reserve Bank is selling its Pittsburgh branch headquarters Downtown after eliminating the jobs of all but 25 of its 320 employees.
The bank said in February it would eliminate about 200 jobs because of its plans to discontinue the paper sale of U.S. Savings Bonds and other securities. Bank spokeswoman June Gates said about 240 of the Pittsburgh branch's employees were involved in those sales, which will conducted electronically. Those operations were consolidated into the central bank's Minneapolis branch.
The other 55 jobs eliminated in Pittsburgh were in human resources and other functions that supported paper bond sales, she said.
Ms. Gates said the branch has about 60 to 65 employees and that will be reduced to 25 sometime early next year. She did not have a timetable.
Those whose positions were eliminated took early retirement or were given severance packages based on length of service as well as help finding other jobs, she said.
"Remaining in our current building just is not a viable option," she said.
The seven-story branch headquarters at 717 Grant Street was originally built in 1931 and a 10-story addition was completed in 1958. The building contains about 200,000 square feet of usable space, Ms. Gates said.
She said the remaining staff will need 12,000 to 15,000 square feet. They include bank examiners, accountants, auditors and human resources.
Len Boselovic: lboselovic@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1941.
