As a percentage of its workforce, the quarter’s biggest job cuts came from Corporate America Family Credit Union (CAFCU) of Elgin, Ill. ($836.5 million in assets, 64,546 members). CAFCU had 150 FTEs on March 31, a net job loss of 26 or nearly 15% from three months earlier and down 77 (-34%) from a year earlier.

CAFCU has closed eight of its 20 branches this year. It closed seven branches in seven states in January, and an eighth on May 23 in Chicago. It said the reason for the January closings was “to improve efficiencies and narrow the credit union’s focus on delivering optimal services via our digital banking tools and our branch network in the Midwest and Northeast branch geography.” It said the May 23 closing was due to its landlord canceling its lease.

Based on NCUA data, the credit union has 12 remaining branches plus its headquarters in Elgin, 40 miles west of downtown Chicago. The remaining branches include four in Cook County and five others in Illinois. The other three are in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Connecticut.

CAFCU lost $1.8 million in the first quarter (-0.89% ROA). For all of 2024, it earned $6.3 million (0.74% ROA), including a $1.1 million loss in the fourth quarter.

CAFCU declined comment for this story.

Among credit unions with more than $4 billion in assets the largest job cuts included those at Broadview Federal Credit Union of Albany, N.Y., Numerica Credit Union of Washington State, Texas Dow Employees Credit Union (TDECU) of the Houston area and SAFE Credit Union of California.

Broadview Federal Credit Union ($8.9 billion in assets, 502,867 members) had 1,331 FTEs on March 31, down 91 (-6.4%) from three months earlier and down 173 (-11.5%) from 2023.

Broadview, which declined comment, earned $5.4 million in the first quarter (ROA 0.25%). It earned $17.9 million (0.20% ROA) in 2024, down from $24.7 million (0.29% ROA) a year earlier.

Numerica Credit Union of Spokane Valley, Wash. ($4.1 billion in assets, 174,641 members) had 624 FTEs on March 31, down 37 (-5.6%) from three months earlier and down 37 (-5.5%) from a year earlier. Numerica told CU Times in March it was laying off 25 employees, citing inflation, rising housing costs and high interest rates.

Numerica, which declined comment, earned $6.5 million in the first quarter (ROA 0.64%). It earned $32.4 million (0.82%% ROA) in 2024, down slightly from $32.6 million (0.84% ROA) in 2023.

Texas Dow Employees Credit Union of Lake Jackson, 55 miles south of Houston ($4.8 billion in assets, 384,558 members) had 812 FTEs on March 31, down 37 (-4.3%) from three months earlier and down 56 (-6.5%) a year earlier.

TDECU, which declined comment, lost $35,476 in the first quarter (ROA 0%). It earned $11.6 million (0.25%% ROA) in 2024, down from $32.9 million (0.70% ROA) in 2023.

The credit union’s loan originations fell 5.3% to $1.4 billion last year, while net charge-offs rose 22% to $52.9 million.

Laura Whitley, SVP of marketing, said the job cuts mainly were among management and were part of “strategic changes aimed at elevating performance, accountability, and productivity across our organization.”

“These included a return-to-office policy and a consolidation of management roles, impacting less than 6% of our total workforce,” Whitley said. “While these decisions were difficult, they reflect a broader trend across the credit union industry — including peer institutions and governing agencies — and are designed to help us better serve our members’ evolving needs while ensuring long-term sustainability.”

SAFE Credit Union of Sacramento, Calif. ($4.4 billion in assets, 243,877 members) had 658 FTEs on March 31, down 38 (-5.5%) from three months earlier and down 59 (-8.2%) a year earlier.

Carole Ferguson, assistant vice president for corporate communications and public relations, said SAFE Credit Union laid off 13 workers in the first quarter, and the rest were attrition and the positions remain unfilled.

“We’ve made difficult workforce decisions as compassionately as possible,” Ferguson said. “As trusted stewards of our members’ finances, it’s our duty to make strategic business decisions that ensure quality service and that SAFE remains a strong financial institution.”

SAFE earned $6.5 million in the first quarter (ROA 0.59%). Last year it earned $24.6 million (0.55%% ROA), up from $18.2 million (0.40% ROA) in 2023.

About 62% of credit union assets were held by the 1,261 credit unions that added employees in the first quarter. They had 213,631 FTEs on March 31, up 4,944 (+2.4%) from three months earlier and up 7,735 (+3.8%) from a year earlier.

Big job gains among those with more than $4 billion in assets included those at Idaho Central Credit Union, Hudson Valley Credit Union in Upstate New York and Local Government Federal Credit Union in North Carolina.

Idaho Central Credit Union ($12.9 billion in assets, 708,466 members) had 1,936 FTEs on March 31, up 113 (+6.2%) from three months earlier and up 162 (+9.1%) from a year earlier. Idaho Central earned $26.2 million in the first quarter (0.84% ROA). It earned $113.3 million (0.98%% ROA) in 2024, up from $95.6 million (0.92% ROA) in 2023.

Hudson Valley Credit Union ($8 billion in assets, 384,243 members) had 1,047 FTEs on March 31, up 115 (+12.3%) from three months earlier and up 149 (+16.5%) from a year earlier.

Hudson Valley added about 85 employees, 11 branches and 7,500 members in January when it spent $28.6 million to buy the $525 million Catskill Hudson Bank (CHB) in Kingston, N.Y. This acquisition followed Hudson Valley’s purchase of eight Berkshire Bank branches last fall.

Hudson Valley earned $74,459 in the first quarter (0% ROA). It earned $22.1 million (0.30%% ROA) in 2024, up from $2.8 million (0.04% ROA) in 2023.

Local Government of Raleigh, N.C. ($4 billion in assets, 405,040 members) had 354 FTEs on March 31, up 35 (+11%) from three months earlier and up 75 (+26.7%) from a year earlier.

Its burgeoning workforce comes as it adds branches across North Carolina and separates its operations from its former parent, State Employees’ Credit Union of Raleigh, the nation’s second largest credit union with $55.4 billion in assets and 2.9 million members.

Local Government told CU Times in early May that its branch expansion and other added operational costs contributed to a $10.4 million loss in the first quarter (-1.04% ROA). It lost $1.6 million (-0.04%% ROA) in 2024, an improvement from its loss of $16.3 million (-0.41% ROA) in 2023.

The 2,067 credit unions with no change in their employee count in the first quarter accounted for only $165.7 billion in assets or 7% of the movement’s total. They had 28,597 FTEs on March 31, unchanged from three months earlier and up 349 (1.2%) from a year earlier.

Contact Jim DuPlessis at [email protected].