Citigroup cutting 52,000 jobs

The second-largest bank in the United States, Citigroup, will cut 52,000 jobs in the coming months, the company's chief executive said on Monday.

Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit told the company's employees of the cuts during a morning town-hall meeting.

After taking into account cuts announced earlier this year, the latest reduction will take Citigroup's workforce down from 375,000 employees at the end of 2007 to a target of roughly 300,000.

A company spokesman said the cuts will be spread across the massive firm and around the world, but details on possible cuts in Canada were not immediately available.

According to the company's website, Citigroup has been operating in Canada for 50 years and has about 5,500 employees across the country.

Roughly 18,000 jobs will be eliminated through the sale of Citi Global Services and the company's German retail banking business. Citi is also planning to sell more businesses, a spokesperson said.

The remainder of the job cuts will come through layoffs and attrition.

Citigroup is among the U.S. banks that have received public money from Washington as part of its bailout plan. The federal government injected about $25 billion US into the firm by way of a purchase of Citigroup preferred shares.

New York-based Citigroup has lost money in the past four quarters, including $2.8-billion US in the third quarter.

The bank said Monday it wants to cut its expenses by 20 per cent.

Shares of Citigroup fell 63 cents to close at $8.99 US on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company did not say whether its top executives will go without bonuses this year. On Sunday, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said its seven senior executives opted out of getting cash or stock bonuses for 2008.