Schwab using days off to cut costs

Charles Schwab will require some of its 26,000 U.S. employees to take three extra days off during the next two months as part of a cost-cutting measure, a company spokesman said Tuesday. Except for workers that deal directly with the public, such as brokers or customer service representatives, Schwab will require its staff to take off two Fridays in February and one in March, Schwab spokesman Dan Hubbard said. Online brokerages are feeling the pain brought on by a slowdown in trading, Hubbard said, adding that Schwab generates 50 percent of its revenue from the commission it makes on trades. Schwab manages more than $800 billion in assets and about 7.5 million brokerage accounts.