A sign of bad things to come?

Question

Citigroup may cut 15,000 jobs, and might reduce hiring next year. That can't be good for people looking for jobs next spring. https://money.excite.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt_ ... d8o3udlo0&

rhyme · Answer

awww crap...

Phokus · Answer

Ouch... so is the economy headed to recession? That's what i keep hearing.

Maybe i should hold off on the MBA for a while :\

rhyme · Answer

And apply when everyone doesnt have a job and wants to go to grad school cause no ones hiring?

Phokus · Answer

No, apply when there's a sign of a recovery and everyone starts rolling in money and applications drop

died4me · Answer

Yeah! and my company just announced multi-billion contract with its major customer. Grass might be greener inside....

eazyb81 · Answer

Oh, fantastic news......

(bangs head against wall)

Hopefully this is just an aberration and not an economic indicator.

gmat_newb · Answer

My impression is that this is not an economic indicator. Citigroup has been getting more and more inefficient and is under pressure by some shareholders to get leaner.

sm176811 · Answer

I agree... I have been reading lately about the organization mess at Citi and how some high flying employees have been lavishly spending money resulting in a close scrutiny by the market, board and the management.

rhyme · Answer

Its the housing market you need to worry about. I've been saying it for a while and now of course you start hearing about sub prime lending... but ive been saying it...

I sold my house yesterday for 98.4% of asking price.

nervousgmat · Answer

I work for Citigroup and can tell you that the job cuts are directly related to the Exec. Mgmt attempt to cut costs. Citigroup has had a negative operating leverage for some time (expenses grow faster than revenues). To stop this trend, Citigroup is trying to get rid of "fat" mostly in layers of management and duplicate positions. 
So no, I don't think this is indicative of how economy is doing in the US.

philkriger · Answer

One of the chief execs was flying around in citi's private jet with Maria Bartiromo from CNBC- he was the first to take the fall after last quarter's earnings were released. 

How do you blame the guy though. Maria's Hot!

aaudetat · Answer

nervousgmat, can you tell me anything about Citigroup? I'm mostly interested in working for the community investment division of a large bank like Citi or Chase, but would like to know more in general. If you are willing to share anythihg, that would be great. And maybe post it to the new corporate profiles sub-forum.

thanks!

nervousgmat · Answer

Aaudetat, 

Honestly, I didn't even know that Citigroup had a community investment division. I work in Citigroup's Global Wealth Management group, and I could certainly tell you about that if you are interested.

rhyme · Answer

Is that like a private wealth management group or private client services area? e.g. $20MM + liquid accounts? 

If so, I'd love to hear about your job.

squali83 · Answer

You are not kidding, I put my house on the market 1.5 months ago. I have had traffic through but it is truly slow for the housing market, especially around DC! I am starting to sweat it out, hoping I sell the house in time.

rhyme · Answer

The DC market is insane. 2bd street level condo's with windows facing Wisconsin Ave going for $800,000+. I think you are right to try and sell. 

I had my place on the market for about 1 month before it sold. It was an incredibly hard decision because I know that renting is actually going to cost me more than buying for the next two years, and that I'm not going to be able to live where I am now - which is insanely convenient. But there are positives as well. (notably, the cash and the fact that if I end up moving post mba, I'm not scrambling to sell in what might be a down market)

edit: What school is that in your profile pic squali?

squali83 · Answer

I am selling because I really do not want to deal with the headache of renting my house out. Plus, I imagine it would be tough to even cover the mortgage by renting. It is also nice to rent, as you noted, because it gives you flexibility after B-school. I just hope my house will sell by the time I need to leave! As for the school in the picture, it is Rice. I decided to attend there over Vanderbilt.

died4me · Answer

I need to sell my house, too
I am actually ready to accept that this is a buyer's market. NO! not really!

lepium · Answer

IÂ´ll keep my house. I like it and it will provide compelling evidence to immigration that I intend to return home and not overstay in the US.

Cheers. L.

A sign of bad things to come?

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards