Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is about to announce that it will fire or reassign 26,000 people. The downsizing would take out 8% of employees. Consumer and investment banking and compliance personnel are likely to take the brunt of the cuts.
For those who have not noticed, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) are not making cuts. Neither is Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) .
According to Reuters "the bank plans to consolidate some back-office, middle-office and corporate functions, move some work to lower-cost areas, and make its technology platforms more efficient".
It is generally a sign of bad management to decide to change things when the stock price is down. It begs the question of why they weren't done before. Citi's shares have been under performing rivals for much of the last two years, so the message from the market is not new.
Making adjustments that appear to be fairly obvious, and making them so late in the game is a sign of stupidity or laziness. Neither is particularly good.
Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.
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