(Updated, 3:30 p.m.) NEW YORK – MetLife Inc., the largest U.S. life insurer, is shifting workers to North Carolina as CEO Steven Kandarian seeks to reduce costs. Administrators for the U.S. retail business will be in Charlotte, while some technology and operations employees will be based in Cary, John Calagna, a MetLife spokesman, said today in a phone interview. MetLife will have 2,600 employees in the state by 2015, Governor Pat McCrory said in a statement. Kandarian is targeting $600 million of cost cuts, mostly in the U.S., at the New York-based insurer as low interest rates weigh on profits. MetLife had 64,000 employees as of Dec. 31., down from 67,000 a year earlier. The move creates a central location for employees who run the U.S. retail business, and a new technology hub, Calagna said. "We want to be able to have our teams who are working together actually be together and collaborate, and we're looking to have fewer real-estate locations," he said.