Cargill cuts 2,000 jobs

Cargill has announced that it is to cut up to 2,000 jobs – around 1.5% of its workforce. The Minnesota-based company cited the continuing weak global economy as the reason for its decision.

Over the weekend, Cargill said it would reduce its 138,000 workforce over the next six months. The reduction in force will not be applied evenly across the company, with cuts being greater in Cargill’s poorer-performing businesses.

“As economic conditions change, so must we,” said Mike Fernandez, corporate vice president of Cargill Corporate Affairs. “These are difficult decisions but are necessary to better position the company for continued growth.” The company had previously (quarter ended August 2011) reported earnings down by 66%, noting the impact of economic uncertainty and the volatility of commodity markets.

Of the announcement the Financial Times said, “It is too early to say whether Cargill’s bearishness is justified. But it is worth noting that Cargill is a privately-owned company – still controlled by the MacMillan and Cargill families, descendants of the founders who set up the group in 1865 – so it does not feel obliged to put as brave a face on in a bad economic environment as its publicly-listed rivals.”

Cargill has for some time been publicly voicing its concerns about the worldwide economic situation. Analysts point out that the diverse nature of Cargill’s commodity trading business gives it an unusually acute insight into a variety of world markets – again, reinforcing the credibility of its public pronouncements. Other commodity traders have been more bullish.

Citigroup to eliminate 4,500 jobs, says CEO Pandit

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Citigroup will lay off roughly 4,500 employees over the next few months, CEO Vikram Pandit said Tuesday, as Wall Street continues to bleed jobs amid tough economic times.


Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference in New York on Tuesday afternoon, Pandit said the cuts would come over the next few quarters.

Citi (C) will book a charge of approximately $400 million in the fourth quarter of this year due to severance payments and other expenses associated with the layoffs.

"As part of our ongoing efforts to control expenses, we are making targeted headcount reductions in certain businesses and functions across Citi," said Jon Diat, spokesman for Citi, in an email.
Citi employed 267,000 employees worldwide as of September. The company said in November that it was planning layoffs, which a source said at the time were expected to top out around 3,000.
Wall Street's shrinking job pool

The financial services industry has lost more than 200,000 jobs globally this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bank of America (BAC) alone has announced plans to cut 30,000 employees over the next several years.

Year-end bonuses, meanwhile, will decline between 20% and 30% on Wall Street this year, according to compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates. Overall compensation for finance professionals in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa will drop 27% this year, the lowest levels since 2008, according to the Options Group consulting firm

Société Générale Planning New York Job Cuts

PARIS — Société Générale is planning to eliminate a number of jobs in New York, as the financial crisis and a changing global regulatory environment put pressure on its businesses there, a person with direct knowledge of the bank’s plans said Thursday.

The bank, one of the top lenders in France, is scaling back its aircraft, shipping, real estate and leveraged finance businesses, the person said.

‘‘It’s premature to give more information about the headcount,’’ said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the layoffs had not been finalized.

The headquarters of French bank Societe Generale, the country's second largest, at La Defense in Paris.

Wall Street banks, whose profits have been flagging amid global market turmoil and regulatory uncertainty, have been culling their ranks. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup and others have announced thousands of jobs cuts. Their European counterparts, including UBS and Société Générale, have been making similar reductions.

MF Global : 1,066 Brokerage Employees Fired

MF Global Inc.’s workforce of 1,066 broker-dealer employees has been fired effective immediately, the trustee liquidating the unit said.

The former employees will be paid through Nov. 15, according to a statement today from the office of the trustee, James Giddens. As many as 200 former employees are being hired to assist in the liquidation of the broker-dealer, Giddens said.

MF Global Holdings Ltd., which was run by former New Jersey governor and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. co-chairman Jon Corzine, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Oct. 31 after a $6.3 billion bet on the bonds of some of Europe’s most indebted nations prompted regulator concerns and a credit rating downgrade.

Giddens, overseeing the liquidation of the bankrupt company’s brokerage unit, is managing the subsidiary’s wind-down under the Securities Investor Protection Act. He will try to close the broker-dealer’s New York offices as soon as possible and find cheaper space in the city, according to the statement. The unit’s Chicago offices will stay open as the business is wound down, Giddens said.

The firings were mandated under the SIPA, Giddens said. The action is necessary to “preserve assets and identify and marshal other property to maximize the estate in a manner that is fair to all customers and other creditors,” he said in the statement.

Customer Accounts
About 17,000 in customer account positions and $1.5 billion in account funds have been moved to other future commodity merchants, Giddens said.

“We are saddened by the trustee’s actions today to terminate so many of our colleagues,” Diana DeSocio, an MF Global spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement.

The brokerage’s parent listed $39.7 billion in debt and $41 billion in assets in its bankruptcy filing. Owners of the parent company’s senior unsecured debt may get back 10 cents to 30 cents on the dollar without an asset sale, credit-ratings company Fitch Ratings said in a report.