First Niagara to cut some jobs, recruit for others

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- First Niagara Financial Group says it's realigning some staffing and will do away with 180 positions as it recruits for 250 others.

A spokesman for the growing Buffalo-based bank says Thursday the jobs being lost don't fit in with First Niagara's future plans. About 30 are in building maintenance, which is being outsourced. At least half of those workers have been offered jobs with the new company.

First Niagara says the 250 open positions are in a variety of areas.

The bank says it's hired 2,700 people over the past two years, including 1,200 from its recent purchase of 195 HSBC branches in New York and southwestern Connecticut. First Niagara now has 430 branches and 6,000 employees in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts.