Citigroup layoffs announced

Today, Citigroup announced plans to cut 50,000 jobs. The firm has faced hard times as the sub-prime mortgage crisis wreaked havoc on banks around the world.

The bank has already laid off 23,000 people over the last few years, and with the new cuts, the company will emerge with 20% fewer employees.

But the bad news doesn’t stop there. The company described the cuts as a “near term” solution, leaving the possibility of more layoffs wide open.

Here’s more, from CNN:

• Citigroup, the nation’s second largest bank by assets behind JPMorgan Chase, has been one of the hardest hit financial institutions during the credit crisis.
• Over the last four quarters, the company has lost more than billion, due in large part to its ill-timed bets on the U.S. housing market.
• Citigroup tried to impress upon Wall Street Monday that it was in a position of strength. The bank said its revenues have remained stable and that the company had plenty of capital following a move by the U.S. Treasury into inject billion into the bank as part of the government rescue plan.
• But investors seemed unconvinced. Citigroup stock fell nearly 3% in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. In the last two weeks alone, shares have lost about a third of their value and so far this year, they are down about 68%.
• Citi stockholders have certainly had a hard time finding something positive about the company’s prospects.
• Last month, the company lost a high-profile battle for struggling regional bank Wachovia (WB, Fortune 500). Citigroup had a government-brokered deal to buy Wachovia’s retail banking assets but Wachovia later agreed to a takeover offer for the entire company from the West Coast banking giant Wells Fargo.

Read the full story here.

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