Credit card major American Express Co announced that it is cutting 5,400 jobs, primarily in the travel business, and take a $ 287 million restructuring charge associated with those layoffs.
The charge is likely to lower the company's adjusted fourth quarter net income by 46 per cent from a year earlier, the company said in a statement on Thursday. The cuts account for about 8.5 per cent of the company's 63,500 workforce, a number that will be mitigated as the company refills some jobs, according to the statement.
The company said the job cuts will take place across "seniority levels, businesses and staff groups.The largest reductions will come in the travel businesses, which operate in an industry that is being fundamentally reinvented as a result of the digital revolution
Excluding the charge, however, the company said its fourth quarter adjusted net income was $ 1.2 billion, or $ 1.09 per share.