American Express Co. said late Monday that it would cut an additional 4,000 jobs, or 6% of its staff, to save another $800 million.
The New York card company said last month that it planned "to initiate additional reengineering efforts" during this quarter in order to reduce operating costs. In October, it laid off 7,000 employees, or 10% of its workforce, and froze salaries and hiring as part of $1.8 billion in cost cuts.
Amex said Monday that it expects to save an additional $175 million as a result of the new job cuts, which will "occur across business units, markets and staff groups." It will also reduce its marketing and business development spending by about $500 million, and cut back on consulting and "other professional services, travel, and general overhead," by about $125 million.
Kenneth I. Chenault, Amex's chairman and chief executive, said in a press release that the additional cuts "will put us in a better position to remain profitable and free up some additional resources that will be reinvested in the business to make sure we can take competitive advantage of opportunities as the economy begins to rebound."
