Wells Fargo plans to recruit between 5,200 and 5,500 people a year to fuel growth within its brokerage, private banking and retirement business, the San Francisco Business Times reports.

The New York-listed bank reportedly said that much of the hiring will be to fill vacancies created through attrition in these areas.

According to the report, Bret Marshall, head of talent acquisition for Wells Fargo, previously said the staff acquisition drive will include some 50 brokerage trainees.

Marshall originally told eFinancialCareers that Wells will recruit in California, Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta and in the Northeast.

Last week, Wells Fargo said it is cutting over 2,300 jobs from its residential mortgage business, which has “slowed considerably,” the report said.

Wells Fargo had not confirmed the plans to this publication at the time of going to press. 

Another firm which has recently announced big hiring plans for its wealth management business is Morgan Stanley. Family Wealth Report spoke to Lawrence Hughes, chief executive, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, about its international recruitment drive (view here).

While firms like Wells Fargo and BNY Mellon are intensifying their focus on wealth management and private banking operations at a time when compliance rules are getting more costly and complex, among other regulatory burdens, others have turned the other way. In March, for example, Genworth sold its wealth management business to New York-based Aquiline Capital Partners and San Francisco, CA-based Genstar Capitaldue. The disposal was due to increased scrutiny from ratings agencies, largely because of losses in its mortgage business, Reuters reported at the time.