Comerica Inc. & Convergys Corporation

Comerica Inc. is set to cut another five percent of its work force in a move that will affect all business units in all geographic markets, including Texas. The financial services holding company, which operates Comerica Bank, paid $34 million in severance-related expenses during the year, including $29 million in the fourth quarter alone, related to the layoff of another 5 percent of its work force during 2008. An unspecified number of those cuts were in Texas, including Houston. The latest round of job cuts, to be completed during the first quarter of 2009, will affect 570 employees, according to Comerica’s spokesman. Comerica had 10,186 employees as of Dec. 31, he added. As for further layoffs during the year, he said he would not speculate on that possibility. In addition, the bank intends to freeze salaries in 2009 for the top 20 percent of the work force, slow its banking center expansion program and continue to reduce capital and discretionary expenses in light of the weakened economy and frozen credit markets. Comerica, which has major exposure in some of the most depressed regions of the country most affected by the housing downturn, reported $196 million in net income for 2008, a 71 percent decline from 2007. The bank set aside more money to cover potential losses on loans, received less interest income and had to cover an $84 million loss tied to auction rate securities during the year. Comerica also said it will focus on expanding existing business customer relationships, particularly in Texas and California.

The slowdown in the national economy is making itself felt in a very real way to workers at several job sites in Houston and Tyler, recent filings with state employment regulators show. Convergys Corp. is closing its call center in Houston and will eliminate the jobs of 653 employees beginning soon, according to a notice the company filed with the Texas Workforce Commission. Call volume has fallen and rental costs have risen, said a Convergys spokeswoman from her office at the company's headquarters in Cincinnati. The call center on Interstate 45 opened in 1998, she said, and is the only Convergys location in Houston. Convergys has 75,000 employees working in 84 call centers around the world.