How Will the Citigroup Layoffs Affect Tucson, Arizona?

Sierra Vista, Arizona -- I began working with Citigroup in early 2006. My job title was account manager, and I soon worked my way up into the retention department. We were told that Citigroup cared for its employees. In Tucson, Arizona, we were a small but integral part of the company that employs over 300,000 people worldwide.

This particular banking group has offices in almost every country and holds ownership positions in several very powerful companies. Every time you see an umbrella with a curved handle, it most likely is a division of Citigroup. Branding was and is something that Citigroup holds very close to its chest. In fact, if you take your credit cards out of your wallet, or insurance cards the odds are they are in some way related to Citigroup Corporation. They are the largest international private banking organization in the world. Based in New York, they control Travelers Group (an insurance organization) as well as their original banking concerns. However, it sometimes seemed like the more they controlled the less they may have cared. Is this the case?

Recently they have talked about terminating more jobs worldwide; Citigroup's layoffs, according to BBC news, have already been around 75,000 as of today. In the New York Times, we see that an additional 9,000 job cuts are on the block within the next several months.

This could detrimentally affect local business and families in Tucson, Arizona, which currently houses several branches of Citigroup, and employs over 4,000 people. Amazingly, enough Citigroup Tucson is still advertising for positions to fill, via websites like Jobing.com and directly through their job site at Citigroup. While I am no longer employed with Citigroup I can honestly say, that they were a well run company and though it may seem as though there are some problems, they will pull through it and we should see them begin hiring again soon.

I hope that the current round of Citigroup layoffs will not be a permanent fixture. Moreover, while many of my friends and coworkers I am sure are going to be suffering, they also have had great careers and opportunities and once the new Chief Executive, Vikram S. Pandit has gotten things balanced better things will level out much faster. As for the recent bailout, it seems that no matter what happens almost 75,000 people worldwide will suffer while the bank seemingly gets better.

On the positive side of things, Tucson has posted some of the best and highest numbers, as well as profits out of any of the centers servicing Citigroup accounts nationwide. This could help with job retention locally. Obviously, it is important to make money, and seeing that Tucson normally has some of the best numbers we could very well see no real job loss locally. My hope for my former co-workers and friends working there is that the Citigroup layoffs will not affect them as much as other areas may be. All I can say is keep working, do your best, and don't fear the possibility.