Key Takeaways
- Citi is tightening its culture with a raised performance bar(标准), according to a new memo(备忘录) sent by CEO Jane Fraser.
- Fraser wrote that “old, bad habits” must go, and that staff will be judged strictly on results rather than effort.
- Citi currently employs roughly 227,000 people globally.
Citi CEO Jane Fraser is warning employees that “old, bad habits” must disappear as the bank pushes deeper cost cuts,(降低成本) including headcount reductions tied to AI.
Fraser sent a memo to Citi’s roughly 227,000-person global staff on Wednesday, making it clear that she will not tolerate underperformance(效率低下) this year. The memo, which Bloomberg obtained, urges staff to “adopt a more commercial mindset” by being competitive and not settling for missed opportunities.
“We are not graded on effort,” Fraser wrote in the leaked memo. “We are judged on our results. And I expect to see the last vestiges(/ˈvɛstɪdʒɪz/痕迹) of old, bad habits fall away, and a more disciplined, more confident, winning Citi fully emerge in 2026.”
Citi is pressing ahead with a multi-year plan, launched in early 2024, to cut up to 20,000 jobs by 2026 as part of a sweeping restructuring called the “Transformation.” The bank projected about $2.5 billion in cost savings from these reductions and has cut over 10,000 jobs to date.
Fraser told staff in the memo that more than 80% of the transformation effort is now complete, which is translating into concrete (混泥土、实际的)headcount(人数) reductions. The bank will eliminate around 1,000 jobs in the latest round of cuts this week, Bloomberg reported on Monday, with more reductions expected as projects conclude.
Fraser informed investors on Wednesday’s earnings call (财报电话会议)that with “much” of Citi’s transformation effort finished, the bank is shifting its focus to how it can use AI tools and automation “to further innovate, re-engineer and simplify” its processes.
Citi’s leadership is explicitly linking staff cuts to investments in AI. The bank’s CFO, Mark Mason, said in a media briefing on Wednesday that he expects headcount “to continue to trend down” this year as Citi gains productivity from AI tools. Fraser echoes that view in her memo, saying AI will transform work.
“Over time, we can expect automation, AI and further process simplification to reshape how work gets done — some roles will change, new ones will emerge and others will no longer be required,” Fraser wrote in the memo.
The tougher internal message arrives against a backdrop of improving financial performance. Citi reported roughly $85 billion in revenue for 2025, about 6% higher than the prior year, with strong gains in investment banking and advisory fees. Investment banking fees reached nearly $1.3 billion, up 10% quarter-over-quarter and 35% year-over-year. Meanwhile, advisory fees increased more than 80% from a year earlier to reach $650 million.
On Wednesday’s earnings call, Fraser said that she was confident about Citi’s position heading into 2026. “While we have some more work to do, I do feel really good about where we are,” Fraser said on the call.
Citi’s stock was up 27% over the past six months.
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