Schwab to cut 375 jobs,
but none are in Hawaii

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From staff and wire reports

SAN FRANCISCO >> Charles Schwab Corp., the biggest discount brokerage firm, said it will cut 375 jobs and close a telephone service center in Austin, Texas, to reduce costs as revenue slides.

Schwab, which fired 7,200 employees last year as trading slumped, said executives plan to lower expenses by $200 million by cutting more jobs and reducing consulting fees, advertising costs and other projects.

However, none of the additional layoffs will include employees from Hawaii's two Charles Schwab offices, according to branch manager Colleen Blacktin.

"In fact, we're looking to hire three and possibly four people here in Hawaii," she said. "We're looking for private client consultants and investment consultants. We feel that every person we have here we need to successfully serve our client base."

Blacktin said Schwab currently has 10 employees in the Bishop Street office and five in the Kahala Mall branch.

The company said closing the Austin office will eliminate about 300 jobs, and another 75 support and administrative employees will be cut from phone centers in Denver, Indianapolis, Orlando and Phoenix. Schwab will have $36 million in pretax costs this quarter to pay for the moves.

The company's clients made an average 156,100 commission trades in July, up 22 percent from June and up 26 percent from July 2001, Schwab said. Assets in client accounts dropped 4 percent from June to $761.4 billion.

Schwab shares fell 11 cents today to $8.46 in New York Stock Exchange trading.