Mr. Cooper is laying off more than 100 California employees, the latest reduction in force following its recent acquisition by Rocket. 

The company, which now operates as a fully owned unit of Rocket Cos., notified state officials of the intent to permanently eliminate 102 positions in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act filing from early December. Affected staff work out of its office in the Orange County city of Lake Forest. 

The final date of employment for employees will be Jan. 16, 2026, the company said. Mr. Cooper also noted that the total number of terminations reflected an amended increase from 88 layoffs it previously advised California officials of in a November WARN notice.  

In its letter, Mr. Cooper emphasized to local and state leaders that "the site will continue to operate and will not be closed." 

The latest filing follows an earlier announcement of nationwide layoffs in October at Mr. Cooper, with Rocket saying it would move to restructure post-merger operations across the entire company following the closure of two mega deals this year. 

While Mr. Cooper was regarded as one of the mortgage industry's leading servicers, positions eliminated from the Lake Forest location focused primarily on originations and underwriting, with over 50 loan processors set to exit. Two vice president roles were also included on the list of pending layoffs. 

Rocket's deal to acquire Mr. Cooper closed early in the fourth quarter, while a merger with real estate platform Redfin was approved in July. In a second-quarter earnings call, company officials had said the moves would result in a slimmer workforce as it attempted to combine activities across the businesses. 

At the end of 2024, Mr. Cooper employed approximately 7,900 people in the U.S. and India, according to its annual report. 

How past mergers led to similar downsizing

The terminations come in what turned out to be a noticeably active year for mergers and acquisitions, with approximately 40 taking place in 2026, according to Stratmor Group estimates. 

In numerous past instances over the past two years, several mergers similarly brought with them staff reductions as acquiring companies sought to get rid of redundancies. Following its acquisition of Computershare Mortgage Services in 2024, the parent company of Newrez reduced headcount over multiple rounds to rightsize servicing operations. 

A Fannie Mae survey of mortgage executives earlier this year found leaders more likely to prioritize streamlining their operations above taking cost-cutting measures, such as layoffs. But among the group seeking to reduce expenses, a majority would consider elimination of back-office staff before other options.