Citigroup is expected to cut 20,000 jobs, or about 10% of its workforce, over the next two years, the New York-headquartered bank said Friday.
The announcement follows a “very disappointing” fourth quarter for the nation’s third-largest banking institution, CEO Jane Fraser said in a news release. The company reported a $1.8 billion loss in the last three months of 2023 — its worst quarterly financial results since 2009, according to the Financial Times.
During the same period in 2022, the bank reported a net income of $2.5 billion.
This year’s loss was driven by nearly $4 billion in expenses, including a revenue impact linked to the devaluation of the Argentine peso and expenses related to the bank’s “organizational simplification.”
The layoffs are part of Citigroup’s ongoing effort to simplify operations to help boost stock prices and increase profits. In November, the company announced it was cutting more than 300 senior manager roles, Bloomberg reported.
Another round of job cuts is expected to be announced later this month, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC.
The layoffs announced Friday, which are due to be completed by 2026, could save Citigroup as much as $2.5 billion a year.
“While the fourth quarter was very disappointing due to the impact of notable items, we made substantial progress simplifying Citi and executing our strategy in 2023,” Fraser said, noting 2024 will be a “turning point” year for the company.
“We remain confident in our ability to adapt to evolving capital and macro environments to reach our medium-term targets and return capital to our shareholders, whilst continuing the investments needed for our Transformation,” she added.
CFO Mark Mason acknowledged “these types of reductions” can be “tough on a (company’s) morale,” but noted the bank has been upfront about its restructuring strategy.
“(We’ve been) very clear about the momentum that we expect,” he told reporters in a call Friday morning.
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