Citigroup to end sweeping overhaul this week after 5,000 layoffs

By Tatiana Bautzer, Lananh Nguyen and Manya Saini

(Reuters) -Citigroup is in the last phase of a sweeping overhaul to simplify its structure and improve performance, the bank said, after shrinking its workforce by 5,000 employees since September.

The largest round of staffing moves, including reassignments and departures, will be communicated to employees from Monday to Thursday, CEO Jane Fraser told employees in a memo seen by Reuters.

“These past months have not been easy,” Fraser wrote. “Far from it. The changes we’ve made are the biggest that most of us have experienced at Citi …, putting us on the front foot and improving our competitiveness.”

Citi declined to comment beyond an earlier statement on Monday.

The reorganization, announced in September, reduced management layers to eight from 13. The latest reshuffle finalizes Citi’s new structure and is part of a broader goal to trim its global workforce of 239,000 by 20,000 over the next two years.

Citi eliminated 1,500 managerial roles comprising 13% of its worldwide leaders, Fraser said as the company released its fourth-quarter results in January. The changes would create annual savings of about $1 billion, she said at the time.

“This meets a major Citi milestone,” wrote Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo, who reiterated Citi’s stock was his top pick.

“The organization simplification, which took 7 months to complete, should provide more evidence that Citi can meet its targets and do so methodically,” Mayo wrote in a note earlier Monday.

(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer and Lananh Nguyen in New York, Manya Saini in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Richard Chang)