ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 31, 1996 TAG: 9601310045
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
First Union Corp. is shuffling jobs throughout its multistate system, which should result in the gain of nearly 50 new positions in the Roanoke Valley.
All of them are data processing positions, in several departments.
David Scanzoni, spokesman for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, said it consolidated its sales financing unit from Roanoke into a similar operation in North Wilkesboro, N.C. That unit primarily handles car loans.
The Roanoke unit closed about three weeks ago.
Fourteen positions were lost to Roanoke in the consolidation, Scanzoni said, but the people holding those jobs were transferred to other positions with First Union in the valley.
The bank is in the process of moving about 30 jobs from Charlotte to Roanoke, Scanzoni said.
People taking those jobs will work primarily on the student loan program and in the employee credit division. The latter division involves handling loan requests from First Union employees, which are kept separate from those of customers.
Another 30 jobs will come to Roanoke within the next few months as a result of the merger between First Union and First Fidelity Bancorp. of Newark, N.J. The banks consolidated Dec. 31, creating the sixth-largest banking company, with assets of $126 billion. It stretches from Florida to Connecticut.
Scanzoni said all of the jobs are in data processing work that has been performed throughout the old First Fidelity system. No accounting has yet been made of the jobs that will come here, but they will not move from a single location.
Former First Fidelity employees in those jobs will be given the option of moving to the Roanoke Valley with their positions. Scanzoni said, however, that the bank's experience shows that few people will move to new communities to keep their jobs. Most hiring is expected to be done locally.
First Union has about 2,200 employees in Roanoke, which is the headquarters for its Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., banks.
LENGTH: Short : 44 linesby CNB