Wells Fargo to Add Jobs in Phoenix

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC - Analyst Report) has announced job creation in the Phoenix region as part of its effort to augment the top line by increasing home loans. The company will employ approximately 900 workers in a new home loan operations office in Tempe, and also in the existing mortgage offices in the region of Phoenix, Arizona.

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage – the mortgage unit of Wells Fargo – will hire the new workers through a job fair. Among the newly-hired employees, roughly 300 will be for the new loan operations center in Tempe, which will open in early February this year. The center will handle loan processing, underwriting, closing and post-closing matters.

Since 1998, Well Fargo has been running a fulfillment operations center in Tempe and presently employs around 1,000 people in the region. The new center will be the company’s third in Tempe.

Earlier in June 2012, Bank of America Corporation (BAC - Analyst Report) announced its intention to add jobs in the Phoenix area. Even though the exact number of new employees was not determined, the banking powerhouse would start hiring after conducting an assessment of the company’s businesses in the region at the end of 2012.

Earlier in July 2012, Wells Fargo announced the addition of jobs both in the U.S. as well as Asia. Its brokerage unit, Wells Fargo Advisors, was growing its St. Louis office and intended to create 400 jobs in the city, within a span of three years. In addition to boosting its workforce in the U.S., Wells Fargo augmented its employee base in Asia. In the next three years, the company plans to augment its Asian workforce by at least 10%.

Given its diverse geographic and business mix, Wells Fargo stands to benefit from consistent earnings growth. It has achieved the eleventh consecutive quarter of growth in earnings by reporting earnings per share of 88 cents in the third quarter of 2012, representing 22% year-over-year growth based on improvements in non-interest income as well as cost control measures.

We believe that expanding workforce in selected markets will augment Wells Fargo’s business and position it better compared to the peers. Moreover, strategic acquisitions will help expand the company’s business and improve its profitability. Hiring more people would also encourage faster economic recovery.

Wells Fargo currently retains a Zacks #4 Rank, which translates into a short-term Sell rating.