Source: Reuters
Citigroup Inc. is likely to cut a “net” 15,000 jobs as part of its cost-cutting plan, and is in the process of laying off more than 1,000 employees, the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires said on Tuesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

A Citigroup spokesman declined to comment. Citigroup plans to unveil the restructuring plan Wednesday morning. The net reductions would include layoffs and attrition, and represent about 5 percent of the bank’s work force. They include layoffs in the trading and prime brokerage units of Citigroup’s investment banking division, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Planned cuts are widespread, including the shuttering of some Smith Barney brokerage offices, the moving offshore of loan collection jobs in Arizona, Florida and Texas, and a possible loss of 10,000 or more U.S. jobs, the report said, without saying where the information came from. Many affected jobs will be in U.S. consumer operations, the report said.

The cuts follow a review of expenses by Chief Operating Officer Robert Druskin that began in December. Shareholders are pressuring Chief Executive Charles Prince to slash Citigroup’s $52 billion operating expense base even as the bank grows, especially outside the United States.