Dive Brief:
- Citi on Monday laid off more than 300 senior managers, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
- The cuts, which affect employees two levels below CEO Jane Fraser’s executive management team, make up roughly 10% of Citi’s workers at that level, the source told Bloomberg.
- “No question, these are the proverbial hard yards,” Citi CEO Jane Fraser said in a memo Monday. “We always knew that changing the trajectory of our bank would not be easy, but I remain as confident as ever about the path we’re on.”
Dive Insight:
Monday’s layoffs come as the firm carries out a major restructuring Fraser announced in September, in which the bank is scrapping its two-division structure and replacing it with five units whose leaders report directly to Fraser.
“Today we shared with our colleagues the next layer of changes across many of our businesses and functions as we continue to align Citi’s organizational structure with our new, simplified operating model,” the firm said in a statement Monday, which did not disclose the number of layoffs it initiated. “As we’ve acknowledged, the actions we’re taking to reorganize the firm involve some difficult, consequential decisions, but we believe they are the right steps to align our structure with our strategy and ensure we consistently deliver excellence to our clients.”
The reductions roughly match the estimate reported two weeks ago: namely, that 10% of employees at some levels and units would face cutbacks.
Fraser told employees in a September memo that employees would know by the end of November any changes to their roles.
Executives had been expected to streamline one layer of management in November and another in January, according to Reuters.
“Final changes” to the organizational right-sizing are expected in March 2024, CNBC reported. The network reported that Citi would begin informing employees last week about job cuts, and that new dismissals will be announced daily through early this week, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
“We’re moving at pace to implement these changes so that we can provide colleagues with clarity about their roles and begin to feel the benefits they will deliver,” Fraser said in Monday’s memo. “The challenges confronting us can sometimes be what dominates the discussion about Citi, but it’s important that we don’t lose sight of the goals we’re working to achieve and the progress underway.”
The New York City-based firm’s restructuring is aimed at eliminating layers of management such as regional managers, co-heads and employees with overlapping responsibilities.
“These are not decisions that have been taken lightly,” Fraser wrote in September. “We’ll be saying goodbye to some very talented and hard-working colleagues who have made important contributions to our firm.”
