Citigroup to lay off 4,500 employees

Citigroup (C) says it is cutting 4,500 jobs over the next few quarters.

CEO Vikram Pandit said the job cuts are part of the bank's efforts to reduce costs. He attributed Citi's struggles in part its mortgage portfolio. Pandit made the remarks during a presentation Tuesday at a financial services conference hosted by Goldman Sachs.

Citi announced three weeks ago that it was laying off 3,000 employees. A Citigroup spokesperson told CBS News that the 4,500 layoffs number cited by Pandit Tuesday was an updated figure, not an additional round of cuts. As of September, Citigroup had 214,000 employees worldwide. Firing 4,500 would mean firing just over 2% of the workforce.

Citigroup Inc.'s fourth-quarter results will include $400 million in expenses related to severance. Pandit also warned that the bank will take a $500 million hit to revenue from an accounting loss the bank will have to take for the higher cost of its debt.

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Bloomberg reported that financial firms worldwide have cut more than 200,000 jobs this year, up from about 58,000 last year and 174,000 in 2009.