Citigroup (C) To Hire 500 Tech Employees In Tampa Bay Area

Citigroup (NYSE:C) seeks to hire about 500 tech-related employees at its Tampa Bay area unit by 2020-end to stay ahead in the digitization race. The news was reported by Biz Journals.

The news jobs will majorly be technology-focused while some will be operational, such as data engineers, software engineers and business and data analysts. All the positions will be added in the Brandon campus.

Mike Healy, Citi's global head of technology for equities and securities services said, "There is a significant importance placed on data scientists who need to collect and analyze quality data, which in turn will create the opportunity for new products, efficiencies and automation of existing processes. Data is paramount; it is critical to every business you have whether it’s banking or beyond.”

Further, Bloomberg recently reported that Citigroup is making a return to Hong Kong’s equity warrants market after five years in order to gain fair share of rising derivatives demand.

Recently, Wells Fargo (NYSE:C) was in news for its plans to eliminate nearly 700 jobs in Manila, Philippines with an aim to concentrate technology employees in lesser number of locations. Also, some of these jobs are expected to be shifted to India, where the company already has roughly 12,000 tech employees.

Further, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) launched an app for its online bank, Marcus, at the start of this year. The mobile app was developed on demand from smart phone-using customers, who could only view account information, make loan payments or transfer balance on the bank's website.

Our Take

Citi continues to execute growth strategies, such as bolstering position in the booming digital consumer payments industry and expanding global market presence, thereby aiming to diversify revenue sources.

Also, prudent expense management and inorganic expansion strategies keep us encouraged. However, pending litigation issues might lead to higher legal expenses.

Shares of Citigroup have lost 1.9% over the past six months against 1.5% growth recorded by the industry.

Citi currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Another stock in the same space worth considering is State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) . This Zacks #2 Ranked stock has been witnessing upward revisions over the past 60 days. Also, the shares have risen 29.4% in six months’ time.

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