SALINAS, Calif.- The reaction to Capital One's announcement Wednesday was immediate.
A lot of you sent us comments and emails about the notice.
One employee, who's remaining anonymous, said quote "Yesterday was the 'Welcome Aboard' speech...And today was the 'We're leaving' news."
The employee was referring to the fact that Tuesday Capital One officially took over in Salinas.
While many employees feel the same way, Capital One said it's willing to help laid off workers.
Capital One said it started talking to senior leaders Tuesday, the day the deal was inked. It said it wanted to make sure they had all the information possible so they could answer employee questions when the announcement was made Wednesday.
Capital One said the city itself wasn't the reason it decided to close the location in Salinas.
It worked closely with mayor Dennis Donohue and other city leaders as soon as it aquired HSBC's credit card services. Capital One agreed local leaders worked hard to keep the company in town and in the end it was the business needs of the company moving forward that mattered.
"Capital One has a plan for its footprint for the U.S. Card Division and Salinas wasn't a fit for that long term plan," said spoksperson Julie Rakes.
Capital One said it already made a financial commitment and to the city and it's also doing a number of things to help its employees get new jobs.
First, it will open an on-site career development center with resume writing and interview coaching. Each employee will have at least four hours per week to use those services.
Next it will host on-site jobs fairs. This will be for other job opportunities within the company, but also it will bring in different companies in the industry with openings, so employees can apply there.
Finally, it will offer a number of employees, we're not sure how many at this point, a relocation package. If you take a job somewhere else in the company, it can help with moving expense etc. Other employees will be offered severance and benefits
All of these services for employees will start at Capital One on June 1st.
As news broke in Salinas of the layoffs, Capital One held a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new branch in South Dakota.
It combined both Capital One and HSBC'S credit card divisions into one location and is expected to add 400 jobs to the area. However, nationally, the company is cutting about 1,900 jobs.
