As of the end of last year, it had recovered but still had about the same number of banking jobs it had 10 years earlier, compared with 46 percent growth in the overall job market. The trend was much less dramatic in the Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area. Banks and thrifts employed 8,300 people in 1990, dropping to 7,900 by the end of 1995. But as of the end of last year, total banking jobs had grown to 9,500. In some cases consolidation has brought jobs into Tarrant County, such as Bank One's Bedford check-processing facility and a large downtown Fort Worth loan services operation.
Consolidation also can produce some real operating gains, former bankers say.
He should know. As the owner of Leito's Supply, a building materials company, he relies on his banker to provide the services he needs. And while he was concerned when his bank's trust department moved to Houston, he quickly established a relationship with his new trust officer. Forbes now heads Southeast Fort Worth Inc., a community development organization. He left Intel after the chip maker scrapped its plans for a Fort Worth factory.