Not every company is allowing for the recession to cutback into its hiring, Citigroup is taking advantage of the talent dismissed by other companies.

Conor Davis, head of Citigroup's credit sales for Europe, told Bloomberg that Citigroup is investing more heavily in its European credit sales and trading team. The U.S. bank will grow the team by roughly 5 percent over the next six to 12 months.

The team will focus on pairing buyers with European lenders that are selling off assets to stay afloat during the euro crisis.

"We see areas of potential growth which would require further investment," Davis told Bloomberg. "This crisis and the de-leveraging of European banks are bringing a lot of trading opportunities because risk needs to be shifted out of the banks' balance sheets."

The news is eye-catching considering Citigroup said in January it would eliminate 5,000 jobs over a few quarters. The bank has reportedly already let go as many as 2,000 employees this year.

European banks, meanwhile, have hemorrhaged in excess of 30,000 jobs this year.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate Travelers Group on April 7, 1998. The year 2012 marks Citi's 200th anniversary.

Citigroup has the world's largest financial services network, spanning 140 countries with approximately 16,000 offices worldwide. The company currently employs approximately 260,000 staff around the world, which is down from 267,150 in 2010 according to Forbes.It also holds over 200 million customer accounts in more than 140 countries. It is a primary dealer in US Treasury securities. According to Forbes, at its height Citigroup used to be the largest company and bank in the world by total assets with 357,000 employees until the global financial crisis of 2008. Today it is ranked 20th in size under the Fortune 500 list. In comparison, JPMorgan Chase, which is ranked 16th on the Fortune 500, is now the largest bank in the world as of 2012.