Citigroup Cuts 50,000 Jobs, No One Surprised By Layoffs Anymore

And the layoffs continue. Citigroup has now joined DHL, Time Inc., Pepsi, Yahoo and almost every other company in cutting jobs. The bank announced today that they will layoff 50,000 people in the face of mounting financial problems.
 

It’s not yet clear where the cuts will come from, but afterwards, Citigroup will be down to about 300,000 employees. There will be an employee town hall meeting this morning to discuss the plans in detail.
 

Unfortunately, the layoffs don’t come as much of a surprise. In case you hadn’t noticed, the economy is in the crapper and the banking sector is struggling. Citigroup is among those not doing so hot. CNN explains:

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

Citigroup, the nation's second largest bank by assets behind JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), 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% 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 (C, Fortune 500) stock edged lower in pre-market trading Monday.

Yikes. In the understatement of the year, banking is really not the most stable industry to get into these days. But then again, what is? Stay in school, kids, stay in school.