Citi to cut 20,000 jobs through 2026, HR News, ETHRWorld

By Tatiana Bautzer and Manya Saini

Citigroup will cut 20,000 jobs over the next two years, the bank said on Friday, after reporting a $1.8 billion quarterly loss driven by a string of one-off charges.

Shares of the bank – which has rolled out a multi-year effort to cut bureaucracy, increase profits and boost a stock that has lagged peers – fell more than 1%.

“The fourth quarter was very clearly disappointing,” CEO Jane Fraser told analysts. “We know that 2024 is critical.”

The lender will reduce its global workforce of 239,000 by 20,000 through 2026, including layoffs from the sweeping reorganization, Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason told reporters.

Citi also expects to no longer count 40,000 jobs when it spins off and lists its Mexican consumer unit Banamex in an eventual initial public offering. Given the headcount reduction and separation of Banamex, it aims to reach a staffing level of 180,000 employees, Mason said.

Analysts said results from the third-largest U.S. lender by assets were strong when the one-off charges were excluded.

“Citigroup’s earnings looked awful with a big loss of $1.8 billion, but the bank’s underlying business showed resilience,” said Octavio Marenzi, CEO at management consultancy firm Opimas.

The loss was driven by…