Video: JPMorgan CEO to speak to WaMu employees

Larger screen

SEATTLE - More than 9,000 Washington Mutual employees are being laid off, with 3,400 of those coming in Seattle alone.

Of the Seattle job cuts, 1,500 are "short-term" layoffs, who are received their 60-day "WARN" notices Monday and will be gone by the end of January. Another 1,900 will work in "transitional" roles, meaning they will stay on for longer than 60 days, but not beyond the end of 2009.

Tiffany Darbyshire is one of those who will lose her job in 60 days.

"I get paid through the end of January, work through January 29th, get my severance and year end bonus,” said Tiffany. She's relieved the wait is over.

"You lose sleep. You don't eat very well. It's hard to focus on your job. At least if you know, you know,” said Tiffany.

JPMorgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon, met with 200 WaMu employees in Seattle on Monday morning. Donahoe-Wilmot, said the mood was upbeat. She said those meeting with Dimon were from retail branch operations and most are expected to keep their jobs.

"I think it was very positive. Totally open and positive. it's a great move. I'm very happy,” said WaMu employee Azi Jarmick.

It is headquarters employees whose jobs are unnecessary because they're duplicated by JPMorgan Chase employees in New York.

Outside of Seattle, where WaMu is based, the biggest number of job cuts is 1,600 at credit card call centers in San Francisco and Pleasanton, Calif., and layoffs are generally no more than a few hundred in other areas, JPMorgan spokesman Thomas A. Kelly said.

None of the more than 20,000 workers in branch banks are being cut, he said.

"Our branch staff is not changing at all," Kelly said. "We need all the branch personnel we have now."

Patrick Abbott works in WaMu Global Investments and says the upside has been JPMorgan Chase’s handling of communication.

“I haven’t been through this before but I know other people that have and this has been, by far, very well actually,” he said.

“There's other financial institutions that have also been absorbed, but this is certainly one of the biggest by far and one of the most daunting tasks I'm sure that JPMorgan has ever taken on,” said Seattle economic analyst Scott Smallman.

Workers enter one of the worst job markets in American history. Smallman says Seattle will struggle to absorb the pool of talent.

“You hate to be that dire about it, but it's not a great time,” he said.

From IT to human resources and lenders, the workers JPMorgan needs to cut are being offered severance packages, relocation options for some.  Despite Seattle's unemployment rate being better than other cities, it's still tough.

“Historically, if we were in a stronger economy, we could handle it and take it pretty much in stride in the economy we're in now, we're every job's important, it's going to be much more difficult,” said Smallman.

Experts warn of a painful "layoff multiplier" effect on Seattle's economy.

"For every job lost there are probably about three other jobs that are tied to that job. So the reality is there may be 3,400 layoffs but there's perhaps upwards of 10,000 people that will be impacted,” said Paul Latta, of investment firm McAdams Wright Ragen.

Washington Mutual, the nation's largest savings and loan, collapsed in September and was acquired by JPMorgan for $1.9 billion. It was the nation's largest bank failure in history.