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RESTRUCTURING AND OTHER CHARGES
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]  
RESTRUCTURING AND OTHER CHARGES RESTRUCTURING AND OTHER CHARGES
In the first quarter of the year ended December 31, 2020, management approved a strategic reduction of the existing global workforce, which resulted in restructuring charges of $27 million and $109 million in 2021 and 2020, respectively. In the first quarter of the year ended December 31, 2019, management approved strategic reductions of the existing global workforce, which resulted in a restructuring charge of $78 million.

The approved strategic reduction in 2020 was part of a multiphase process to reorganize our workforce concurrently with the redesign of our operating structure, which spanned multiple quarters. We primarily incurred employee severance and benefits costs, as well as other associated consulting costs under the 2020 strategic reduction, substantially all of which have been accrued as of the second quarter of 2021.

The following table summarizes the restructuring reserve activity during the year ended December 31, 2021:
 Employee Severance and Benefits and Other Associated Costs
(In millions)
Accrued liability as of January 1, 2021$55 
Charges 27 
Payments(77)
Accrued liability as of December 31, 2021$5 
Additionally, in 2021 and 2020, we incurred asset impairment charges of $26 million and $30 million, respectively, due to the exiting of certain leased properties which resulted in a reduction of certain ROU lease assets and related leasehold improvements. See “Note 6—Leases” for additional information.

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. We primarily incurred employee severance and benefits expenses under the 2019 strategic reductions, which were substantially completed by the end of the first quarter of 2020.