Monday Job Cuts Speech Major Test For Citi's Pandit

CNBC.com
| 15 Nov 2008 | 04:09 PM ET

Citigroup plans to shed about 10 percent of its global workforce, a
person familiar with the matter said Friday, as it tries to restore
profit and quiet mounting criticism of Chief Executive Vikram Pandit.

Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit plans to make a dramatic statement Monday
morning about major cut backs in the struggling firm's workforce aimed
at calming market fears that the troubled financial services giant isn't
taking the steps necessary to address its many ills, which include a
bloated cost structured that has sent shares of its stock reeling,
people close to the company said.

These people say that as of Saturday afternoon the exact size of the
cuts is not known, but it's expected to be higher than the 23,000 cuts
the firm made as of end of the third quarter to its workforce of
approximately 350,000 worldwide. These people say the overall size of
the cuts that Pandit will announce during a highly anticipated town hall
meeting could add up to close to 40,000 depending on the number of asset
sales, such as spinning off businesses the firm could pull off in
addition to additional planned layoffs.

These people add that during the meeting Pandit will likely cite a
specific number of job cuts and say these cuts will occur a relatively
short period of time, such as over the next five or six months.

"The object here is for people to take notice," said one person close to
the company. "The exact number is still a moving target but it will be
dramatic."

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Good job, Bush.