Citigroup, the financial services firm, says it will close its mortgage loan servicing office in Frederick by the middle of next year and move most of the 940 workers elsewhere in the region.

Relocated employees will either work from Citi's large Hagerstown site or from their homes, Citi spokeswoman Janis Tarter said Thursday. The rest of the jobs — about 40 — will be cut. Tarter said the company is working with those employees "to help them explore open jobs within Citi and outside of Citi."

Tarter said the planned shutdown in Frederick is designed to "increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of our consumer banking operations while giving employees as many flexible work options as possible." The company expects that most of the relocating employees will work from home.

Citi employs about 5,000 people in Maryland, 2,100 of those in Hagerstown.

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