Citi Cuts Could Include Call Centers, Brokerages

Citigroup(C Quote), which is reportedly considering slashing its workforce by 15,000, could look to outsource call-center jobs and merge underperforming retail brokerage units in an effort to cut costs by $1 billion a year.

A spokeswoman at Citi declined to comment or acknowledge published reports of cost-cutting at the bank.

India might be the beneficiary of Citi's possible reductions in the U.S.; the global financial services firm might look to slash jobs at its call centers in the U.S. and move those jobs to India, where labor is cheaper, observers say.

Citi, and in particular CEO Charles Prince, has been under fire for its operating expenses of $52 billion last year, which many investors have complained were too high, while the company has failed to match the growth of its rivals, including Bank of America(BAC Quote).

Citi has begun implementing a handful of measures to trim overhead. That includes a nationwide consolidation of its Smith Barney brokerage branches.

According to industry newsletter Wall Street Letter, some 30 offices, in Atlanta and Pennsylvania, are slated to be merged. Smith Barney has 13,143 brokers and 634 branches, according to its most recent public filings.

Citi also has begun moving some of its back- and middle-office functions in Manhattan to cities such as Buffalo, N.Y., where they would be cheaper to run, say people familiar with the moves. Prince has stated publicly that India is one location where Citi aims to grow.

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