Restructuring

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]

Restructuring

Restructuring

In the first quarters of 2019, 2018, and 2017, management approved strategic reductions of the existing global workforce, which resulted in restructuring charges of $78 million, $25 million, and $40 million, respectively.

The approved strategic reductions for 2019 were intended to better align our teams to support key business priorities, and included the transfer of certain operational functions between geographies, as well as the impact of the transition servicing activities provided to Synchrony, which ended in the second quarter of 2019. The following table summarizes the restructuring reserve activity during the year ended December 31, 2019:

	Employee Severance and Benefits
	(In millions)
Accrued liability as of January 1, 2019	$	3
Charges	78
Payments	(72		)
Accrued liability as of December 31, 2019	$	9

The strategic reduction approved in the first quarter of 2018 included restructuring charges related to the decision to wind down TIO’s operations. We incurred employee and severance benefits expenses under both the 2018 and 2017 strategic reductions, which were substantially completed by the end of 2018 and 2017, respectively.