Citigroup to Eliminate 17,000 Jobs to Boost Stock Performance

Citigroup shareholders are less interested in who has jobs and instead are focusing their attention on money.  As in, how much money can they get as a return on an investment if Citigroup insists on paying people to work all the time?

Citigroup announced Wednesday that it is cutting 17,000 jobs, as well as moving 9,500 jobs to "lower-cost locations," all in an attempt to placate shareholders.  Citigroup’s stock has only risen 15 percent since Charles Prince took the CEO position in 2003.

Industry analysts, however, aren’t so sure that the cuts are the smartest way for Citigroup to increase shareholders’ ROI.  In fact, some are arguing that it could have the opposite affect.  Rather than sustainable revenue, it simply “juices the earnings growth number one time” according to one analyst quoted in a CNN.com story about the proposed cuts.

"Citigroup over the years has built up an investor base with audacious expectations about the returns the company could generate in the future," Morningstar analyst Craig Woker said in the CNN story. "But times have changed - this company is no longer managed by a team that can go out and get growth through cheap acquisitions."