Citigroup to cut more than 50,000 jobs

(CNN) -- Banking giant Citigroup has announced it is cutting a further 50,000 staff as the economic crisis worsens.


Citigroup is rumored to be looking to cut staff in investment banking and wealth management divisions.

1 of 2 It followed Japan's announcement Monday that the world's second largest economy had slipped into recession.

The latest job cuts by Citigroup are yet another example of how the New York-based bank is desperately trying to cut costs in the wake of the credit crisis. Over the past four quarters, it has trimmed its payroll by 23,000 workers.

In an investor presentation on its Web site, the company said it would reduce its staff levels to approximately 300,000 employees. As of the end of September, the New York City-based bank had about 352,000 workers.

It was not clear from the presentation what parts of the company the cuts would come from, but there was speculation last week that Citigroup was looking to lay off people in its investment banking and wealth management divisions.

Citigroup, the second largest U.S. 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 $20 billion, due in large part to its ill-timed bets on the U.S. housing market.

Its stock, which is down 68 percent so far this year, has lost about a third of its value in the last two weeks alone amid broader investor nervousness about the economy and the U.S. banking sector. Citigroup stock edged lower in pre-market trading Monday. More>>

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