ONEIDA — Oneida Savings Bank, a unit of Oneida Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ONFC), will eliminate 61 back-office positions from its offices in Rome and Oneida between July 17 and July 30. The job cuts are a result of the impending acquisition of Oneida Financial by DeWitt–based Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE: CBU), parent of […]
ONEIDA — Oneida Savings Bank, a unit of Oneida Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ONFC), will eliminate 61 back-office positions from its offices in Rome and Oneida between July 17 and July 30.
The job cuts are a result of the impending acquisition of Oneida Financial by DeWitt–based Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE: CBU), parent of Community Bank, N.A.
The reductions are due to “overlapping operational responsibilities,” Hal Wentworth, senior vice president of retail banking for Community Bank, said in a statement. He added that Community Bank is “working to ensure that these individuals receive proper severance benefits, as well as job retraining, re-employment services and other assistance through the New York State Department of Labor.”
The cuts were disclosed on May 12 on the state Department of Labor website in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires businesses of a certain size to give notice of layoffs and closings before they happen.
The affected Oneida Savings Bank employees are not represented by a union, according to the WARN notice the bank filed.
The merger of the two financial institutions was first announced in February by Community Bank System after it agreed to purchase Oneida Financial for $142 million in a mix of stock and cash. The deal is expected to close in July.
Oneida Savings Bank was established in 1866 and operates 12 banking offices in Madison and Oneida counties. It has total assets of nearly $800 million, deposits of $690 million, and 12 banking offices across Madison and Oneida counties.
In addition to Oneida Savings Bank, Oneida Financial is parent company of State Bank of Chittenango; OneGroup NY, Inc. (formerly Bailey & Haskell Associates, Inc.), an insurance, risk management, and employee-benefits company; and Oneida Wealth Management, Inc., a financial services and investment-advisory firm.
Community Bank System, with assets of about $7.5 billion, operates more than 190 branches across upstate New York and Northeastern Pennsylvania through its banking subsidiary, Community Bank, N.A. That includes 51 branches in the 16-county Central New York area, including seven in the Syracuse metro area, according to FDIC data.
