Citigroup Inc 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. The cuts could result in a loss of roughly 35,000 jobs, based on the bank's reported 352,000-person workforce as of Sept 30. Citigroup has already cut 23,000 jobs this year. Additional reductions would come from layoffs, the sale of units and attrition, the person said. Citigroup spokesman Michael Hanretta declined to comment. Pandit in a memo said he will host a “town hall” meeting for employees on Nov. 17 at which he plans to discuss the bank's plans, including “the money we spend.” Since replacing Charles Prince as chief executive in December, Pandit has made cost-cutting a top priority and has announced plans to shed $400 billion of assets. He has, however, faced growing and sometimes withering criticism from investors and others for failing to implement a workable turnaround plan for New York-based Citigroup. Citigroup's market value on Thursday was just $51.5 billion, barely twice the $25 billion of capital it received from the US Treasury Department's new bank bailout plan. – Agencies Like many rivals, the second-largest US bank by assets faces growing credit losses now that many economies worldwide appear to be in recession. Citigroup has lost $20.3 billion in the last year, analysts expect it to lose this quarter.
