Citigroup is rumoured to be considering axing up to 15,000 jobs this year as part of a company-wide cost-efficiency restructuring programme. The proposed cuts reported in the Wall Street Journal would form part of the first significant overhaul of the bank’s structure and comes at a time when chief executive Charles O Prince has been coming under increasing scrutiny over the bank’s operating costs.
It is also rumoured that a further 14,000 employees will be relocated from financial centres to more economical locations or will resign from the company, which currently employs 327,000 staff worldwide. Consumer and credit card departments of the bank are expected to be those most affected by the measures, although its staffing levels in investment banking are also expected to be reduced.
In the last year, the disparity between a 15 per cent growth in operating costs and a seven per cent increase in revenue has seen critics of Prince’s stewardship become more vocal.
The results of the cost-cutting survey are expected to be made public in April.