Nelnet to cut more than 500 employees, most of them outside of Nebraska

The Lincoln-based financial services firm said it will lay off about 350 people in its Nelnet Diversified Services Division, while another 210 people in the division are being let go due to performance reasons.

Nelnet spokesman Ben Kiser said most of the affected employees are from locations outside Nebraska.

The 350 people being laid off were hired in the past six months as Nelnet anticipated an increase in student loan borrower activity due to the Biden administration’s proposed loan forgiveness program as well as the expected resumption of student loan payments, which have been suspended since the start of the pandemic.

However, the debt forgiveness program is being challenged in court and the Department of Education has extended the moratorium on loan repayment for several more months. Because of that, “it isn’t feasible to maintain increased staffing levels for work that will remain on hold for a significant amount of time,” Kiser said.

The employees being let go for non-performance reasons were given 60 days’ notice, he said, and would be welcomed back if other positions open.

“We will continue to actively search for opportunities within the organization to redeploy eligible associates, and we hope many will consider reapplying to join our team when repayment does resume,” Kiser said.

He did not comment on the 210 employees let go for performance reasons or how they were chosen.

This is the second time in the past year Nelnet has reduced its staff because of the student loan repayment moratorium.

The company announced in May that it was laying off 150 people, citing low call volume and limited work available for employees on its loan-servicing teams.