Gov. Ned Lamont, vowing to hold M&T Bank accountable for commitments made to Connecticut in the aftermath of merging with People’s United Bank, met Tuesday with M&T’s top executive over jobs and investing in underserved communities.

“We’re keeping our economy growing while also holding businesses accountable for their impact,” Lamont said, in a tweet Monday. ”They must go hand in hand. I just shared this with M&T CEO René Jones in my office today.”

Buffalo-based M&T Bank has come under intensifying fire over customer disruptions in the merging of People’s United Bank accounts over the Labor Day weekend.

And this week, M&T drew sharp criticism from Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, over job cuts particularly at People’s United’s former headquarters in Bridgeport, now a regional hub for M&T.

M&T told Tong in a letter late last week that 325 workers have been laid off, with another 333 in the future.

M&T declined to comment Tuesday on Lamont’s meeting with Jones. But late Monday, M&T said that the jobs numbers being reported to Tong were not new and were disclosed to the state in August, 2021.

M&T reaffirmed “our commitment to growing jobs in all of our communities, especially in our regional headquarters of Bridgeport, where we have promised 1,000 employees,” M&T said, in a written statement. ”That commitment was made for one year from conversion weekend, which was less than a month ago.”

Currently, M&T said there are 1,117 employees based at the former People’s United headquarters and at branches in the city.

The governor’s office said Lamont has been frequent telephone conversations with Jones since the merger of the two banks. M&T purchased People’s United in April for $8.3 billion and combined hundreds of thousands of customer accounts of the acquired bank a month ago.

During one conversation, Lamont invited Jones to meet with him when he was in Connecticut. Jones was in Connecticut Tuesday visiting branches and employees.

A year ago M&T rolled a five-year plan that will provide $43 billion in loans, investments and other financial support to low- and moderate-income people and communities as well as people and communities of color. The plan came after it told the state labor department it would cut 747 jobs, primarily at People’s United’s headquarters, sparking widespread criticism.

M&T became a major banking presence in Connecticut with its acquisition of People’s United, one of the largest banks based in the state.

M&T has apologized for customer disruptions as it integrated accounts with People’s United, but has consistently maintained that most customers did not experience any problems.

Last week, M&T said it would not collect consumer and checking fees or impose late charges on consumer and mortgage loans though October.

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com