While Wells Fargo pressed pause on job cuts in March amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Bloomberg reports today that the lender proceeded with layoffs earlier this month. The staff reductions are part of a larger cost-cutting initiative, meant to deal not only with the economic impact of the pandemic but with costly regulatory penalties associated with a series of high-profile scandals. The cuts reportedly could cost thousands of people their jobs. Initial layoffs will affect many employees that the San Francisco–based banking giant had already planned to lay off earlier this year. "We expect to reduce the size of our workforce through a combination of attrition, the elimination of open roles, and job displacements," a Wells Fargo spokesperson told Bloomberg. Company executives have also recently floated the likelihood of branch closures and other spending reductions in an effort to save money.