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Citi says 40,000 jobs will be lost after it freezes the bank's Mexican retail arm.
New York
CNN
—
Citigroup will lay off 20,000 employees over the next two years, CFO Mark Mason said Friday. The cut comes after the company reported a net loss of $1.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, its worst quarter in 15 years.
The bank expects to save $2.5 billion over the long term by cutting headcount.
The bank reported a massive fourth-quarter earnings loss of $1.16 per share, according to FactSet.
Citi said there were several one-time costs that affected its results. That includes a $1.7 billion charge owed to the bank related to The regional banking crisis last spring saw an $880 million loss in Argentina and $800 million in restructuring costs associated with 7,000 layoffs by 2023.
The layoffs are part of a multi-year effort by Citi CEO Jane Fraser who called the results “very disappointing” on a call Friday morning but said 2024 will be a “turnaround year” for the nation's third-largest lender.
“Whenever an industry or company goes through these types of cuts, it's tough on morale,” Manson said on a call with reporters Friday morning. “I would point out that we are very clear about the company's strategy and very clear about the pace we expect.”
In addition to 20,000 job cuts across the company's operations, the bank said it would shed 40,000 employees from its Mexican retail division through the IPO, bringing the company's total workforce from 240,000 to 180,000.
Over the next few years, the bank said it expects to pay up to $1 billion in severance pay and restructuring costs related to its planned restructuring.
A spokeswoman for the US-based lender said the layoffs would be global and declined to break down the numbers by region.
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser first announced her sweeping restructuring efforts last September. He said his plans to restructure the bank's leadership, increase accountability and raise the stock price required a leaner workforce.
“We say goodbye to a very talented and hard-working colleague,” Fraser wrote at the time.
Shares City They were down 1.2% in afternoon trade.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified where the layoffs were taking place. Citi's layoffs are worldwide.
