American Express to Cut 5,400 Jobs

American Express, the second largest employer in the Fort Lauderdale area with a local payroll of 3,000 employees, is taking a $400 million restructuring charge to cover severance payments related to the elimination of an estimated 5,400 jobs across the U.S. and overseas.

The firm’s Plantation office focuses on commercial and consumer financial services, as well as traveling consulting. Reductions will primarily involve positions that do not directly generate revenue, according to the company. Details on whether or not Fort Lauderdale job area employees will be affected by cuts were not disclosed.

Reductions will be partly offset by jobs the company expects to add during the year.  Overall staffing levels by year end 2013 are expected to be 4 to 6 percent less than the current total of 63,500.

Elements of the restructuring program outlined in an American Express news release include:

• Re-engineering the business model in Global Business Travel to reduce its cost structure and invest in capabilities that better align it with the shift of customer volumes to online channels and automated servicing tools;

• Continuing the reconfiguration of card member servicing and collections to drive efficiency globally as more customers use online and mobile channels instead of paper and telephone;

• Reducing the size of staff groups while continuing to maintain the right focus and resources on risk and control activities;

• Ensuring the right organizational structure across client management and sales functions to best serve customers; and

• Consolidating similar functions and eliminating duplicate efforts wherever possible in order to drive efficiency.

The job reductions 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.

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