Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's biggest mortgage company, may reduce its workforce by 10,000 to 12,000 in the next three months, a 20 percent cut.

New mortgages probably will drop 25 percent in 2008 from this year's levels, the Calabasas, California-based company said in a statement today. IndyMac Bancorp, the second-biggest mortgage company, said earlier today its workforce will shrink by 1,000 jobs, or about 10 percent.

Countrywide's cuts are the biggest in the mortgage industry during the worst housing slump in 16 years. More than 15,000 jobs have been eliminated this week alone as National City Corp. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. disclosed reductions. More than 100 mortgage companies have sought buyers or halted lending since the start of 2006.

Countrywide's managers ``are taking the steps they need to take in light of the much lower origination volume,'' said Blake Howells, who helps manage $2.6 billion at Portland-based Becker Capital Management Inc. including Countrywide shares. ``The company had been actually criticized in the analyst community for growing their headcount.''

The company's stock fell 27 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $18.21 at 4:17 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The company's shares have lost 57 percent this year. The stock changed hands for $18.38 in extended trading.

``These decisions are being made with the utmost attention and sensitivity to the impact they will have on our company and our people,'' said Countrywide President David Sambol in the statement.

Countrywide is firing people because it's struggling to sell mortgages to investors, said Sean Egan, managing director of Egan-Jones Ratings Co. That's likely to continue next year, he said. ``It's probably not going to be the last cut,'' Egan said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Hester in New York at ehester@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 7, 2007 18:33 EDT