NEW YORK — Citigroup will lay off roughly 4,500 employees over the next few months, CEO Vikram Pandit said Tuesday, as Wall Street continues to bleed jobs amid tough economic times.
Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference in New York on Tuesday afternoon, Pandit said the cuts would come over the next few quarters.
Citi  will book a charge of approximately $400 million in the fourth quarter of this year due to severance payments and other expenses associated with the layoffs.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to control expenses, we are making targeted headcount reductions in certain businesses and functions across Citi,” said Jon Diat, spokesman for Citi, in an email.
Citi employed 267,000 employees worldwide as of September. The company said in November that it was planning layoffs, which a source said at the time were expected to top out around 3,000.
Wall Street’s shrinking job pool
The financial services industry has lost more than 200,000 jobs globally this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bank of America  alone has announced plans to cut 30,000 employees over the next several years.
Year-end bonuses, meanwhile, will decline between 20% and 30% on Wall Street this year, according to compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates. Overall compensation for finance professionals in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa will drop 27% this year, the lowest levels since 2008, according to the Options Group consulting firm. 
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