JP Morgan Chase has announced that it would be undertaking another round of layoffs, numbering between 3,000 to 4,000 employees in its consumer bank operations by 2013. This number is 1.5 percent of the company's overall labor headcount and its main reason for such action is to improve profitability as a business.

Most of the cuts would be through attrition and despite a concurrent branch expansion plan, there will be a scaling back of other functionaries for its routine transactions. Also, there would be a new focus on hiring sales personnel for products and services for revenue generation.

The bank will focus on selling more services to the wealthy and elite segment, as the average consumer checking account contains about US$4,276. More than half of these wealthy households are located within two miles of a JP Morgan Chase branch or ATM.

Under the plan, the bank is expected to cut about US$1 billion in costs by 2013.