US banking giant Citi is set to cut 20,000 jobs - including potentially hundreds in London - in a massive cost-cutting program after racking up huge losses last year.
The banking giant said it would reduce its headcount by about 20,000 - from its current 200,000 to around 180,000 - over the “medium term”. It will spend as much as $1 billion this year paying severance to ex-employees, after severance costs of $1.5 billion last year.
The bank did not provide a geographical breakdown of the job cuts, but it employs around 9,000 people in London. Its London staff are based out of the 200-metre-tall Citigroup Centre skyscraper in Canary Wharf. If the cuts are proportional across Citi’s offices, it is likely that around 900 staff in London would lose their jobs.
Citi has around 16,500 staff in the UK as a whole, with other offices in Belfast, Derby and Edinburgh.
The firm, valued at around $100 billion, expects t save between $2bn and $2.5bn through the restructuring.
The cuts come as Citi reported a $1.8 billion loss, partly due to a number of one-off charges. The business took a $500 million loss on its exit from Russia, and more big losses from the Argentine Peso falling in value against the US dollar.
CEO Jane Fraser said: “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.”
The staff reduction could be the latest blow to Canary Wharf, after major tenants including HSBC announced plans to move out.
