Boston Fed / To cut 160 jobs

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston will cut nearly 15 percent of its workforce in the next three to four years — the largest layoff at the institution in more than a decade. 

Last week bank officials informed 160 employees — an entire division — that their jobs would be eliminated because a key customer, the US Treasury Department, was cutting costs.

In an attempt to save taxpayers $117 million over the next decade, the Treasury is consolidating certain banking services that it currently spreads among 10 regional Federal Reserve banks, including Boston. In the coming years, those services will be provided by just four regional banks: Kansas City, St. Louis, Cleveland, and New York, said Thomas Lavelle, a spokesman for the Boston Fed. There are 12 regional banks in the Federal Reserve system.

The job cuts were first reported by the Boston Business Journal.

“It’s obviously a tough decision for us and the folks who are here,” Lavelle said. “It’s really about cost and efficiency.”

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Boston Fed to cut 160 jobs – Business – The Boston Globe.