The economy is growing, businesses are opening lines of credit and U.S. Bank plans to hire at least 2,000 more employees in 2015, CEO Richard Davis said Friday.
In an interview with Bloomberg News in New York, Davis said Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp is hiring about 1,500 people in 2014 and will hire up to another 3,000 by the end of 2015.
Many of the new positions will be in compliance and audit as the company tries to follow new financial regulations, Davis said, and priority is given to veterans and the long-term unemployed.
The long-term unemployed — those jobless for six months or more — have suffered a pronounced hardship since the economic downturn. U.S. Bank is piloting a program to hire more of them and now partners with nonprofits and government agencies to identify specific long-term unemployed people who might make good employees.
In the interview, Davis threw cold water on the idea of U.S. Bancorp making large acquisitions in the near future.
"I think the risk of me inheriting another company's history and culture and all those things that come along with it, that risk is greater than the reward I might have by being bigger," Davis said.
U.S. Bancorp's third-quarter profit edged upward to $1.47 billion, roughly in line with investors' expectations, as lending growth helped the company overcome the challenge of low interest rates. The firm's fourth-quarter earnings report comes out in January.
Davis said U.S. Bank's customers are opening lines of credit at a fast rate, which signals they are optimistic about the future.
"Times are getting better," Davis said. "Companies are taking actions to be ready for the next opportunity."
U.S. Bank had 65,500 employees at the end of 2013, Davis said. The company will end 2014 with 67,000 employees, and by the end of 2015 have either 69,000 or 70,000.
"I don't bring people on until I'm sure that I can keep them all," Davis told Bloomberg.
Adam Belz • 612-673-4405 Twitter: @adambelz
