November 5, 2009
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News: Citi Cuts Jobs!
Americans have not stood alone in the war to survive during the wake of the recession, increasing unemployment, and the plummeting housing market; automobile manufacturers, banks and credit card companies just to name a few have also endured massive losses. Unlike the strategies of most Americans who have learned to cut credit card spending, trim the budgets, and brown bag it, lenders have embarked on practices that aim at building the fat for upper management at the expense of customers and lower ranking employees. Most recently, Citigroup Inc. announced that they will be laying off about 175 employees in its credit card and personal wealth management divisions.
This most recent lay-off for Citigroup, one of the nation's largest credit card companies, brings the company's personnel count to nearly 279,000 an approximate 30 percent drop from just two years ago. Current employee lay-offs which add to the rising unemployment rate, consists of corporate positions that do not include employees that deal directly with credit card customers, and branch based financial advisers. According to a statement by Samuel Wang, Citigroup spokesman, it was a difficult decision and one which Citi did not take lightly. The move is one step forward within the company's new organizational model aimed at reducing credit risks and providing increased function in the new regulatory environment.
Although Citigroup posted marginal profits for third quarter, stockholders are demanding more. In an effort to drive the company's stock, Citigroup as well as other major credit card companies have cast fee after fee upon the huddled masses of the economically deprived. Citi has received a great deal of criticism by the public and press over the past couple of weeks as they canceled cards without warnings, raised interest rates, and implemented annual fees. Citi has not yet repaid the government bailout funds it received earlier this year that gave the U.S. Government a third stake in the company. Citigroup, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol "C".