US credit card giant American Express announced that it was to shed some 4,000 jobs as part of an $800-million restructuring of its global operations.
The job cuts would lead to the elimination of about six per cent of the company's current worldwide workforce, and the company also planned to scale back investments and slash operating costs.
The move comes after AmEx last month reported a 56 per cent drop in quarterly earnings from a year ago to $443 million, or 31 cents per share, amid rising write-offs of credit card debt.
American Express said the job cuts, which will go into effect this year, would allow them to shave $175 million off their budget, while reducing investments on marketing and business development would save another 500 million dollars.
The rest of the savings would come from cutting $125 million from operational costs, chairman and chief executive Kenneth Chenualt said.
"While we have remained solidly profitable at a time when some parts of the card industry were incurring substantial losses, we continue to be very cautious about the economic outlook," Chenualt said in a statement.