Citi is about to layoff (more) folks
Heard from a friend of a friend… if you catch my drift.
Wallet down, probably going to miss targets, etc. ECM, lev fin, and even M&A going to get clapped apparently.
Rumor mill or legit?
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No I don't catch your drift... Who is your "friend of a friend", Jane Fraser?
Biden
LevFin is picking up wtf
not really. Mostly manufactured stuff... refis, small add-ons. Relatively few new deals
layoffs usually decided in advance enough to be before it was ‘picking up’
What are you smoking who is looking to get new financing at L + 1500
What’s the standard rate as of current?
https://twitter.com/60Minutes/status/1571656567014891521?s=20
0 chance more banks don't do another 1-2 rounds of cuts. They're coming to the realization that the market isn't coming back in the 2H....
What desks are safe?
Maybe investment grade? Hard to tell. Maybe the question isn't what desk but what rank…
fingers crossed cuts aren't as brutal as some other banks :(
It’s going to be brutal. Citi stock is being outperformed by the other big 3 competitors and IB at Citi is way behind
Citi stock has always traded low since 2008... That's not a reliable metric to point to how deep lay-offs are going to be. Citi performs higher than BofA, yet BofA's lay-offs haven't been as deep-cutting as MS or GS. I don't know if IB at Citi is "way behind", they seem to be doing fine in terms of number of deals and volume and league tables + financing capabilities they always perform well in. I'm frankly surprised Citi is laying off more people, and if anything these round of cuts I don't think will be "brutal". They barely laid off that many people last round anyway.
Agree, Citi's stock has never done well and has long traded below peers... their issues are more structural/the bank undergoing a massive transformation rather than needing to cut IB juniors. I doubt they are going to come in and slash and burn with massive reductions, perhaps some more trimming of a few % of staff but that's been across every bank
I see, what are some of the structural problems?
woman ceo
- Business mix is not strong
- Lots of legacy regional businesses that are a distraction, not profitable, and result in big charge offs i.e. South Korea, Russia, Mexico
- Multiple regulatory issues that keep popping up due to lack of tech and risk investment
- strategy has been rather unclear for several years
- their not-amazing profitability targets are years in the future and dependent on great markets
Look at their 2022 investor day if you want more detail (also an interesting watch for incomings who want to learn about the direction of the bank). They are pretty clear that they know it's a turnaround. Not to say Citi IB is bad at all, that's a strong franchise of theirs, but the company as a whole has several very clear reasons to trade behind a JPM or BofA
Many folks to be cut at all levels
Do we know when the layoffs will begin? What magnitude?
Are Citi tech groups safe?
You tell me how tech is doing these days boyo
Varies. Tech layoffs lately have been more operational as opposed to software engineers. They are still hiring for senior engineers, but not necessarily entry level. Company is on a hiring freeze, but I know that banks and other financial institutions have their own tech division that is different from that of software/tech like MAANG.
Not more than 50 employees in NY at least. Legally Citi would need to post a warning here
https://dol.ny.gov/warn-notices
So just a trim then
True that it does need to be posted, but doesn't need to be pre-posted since they give significant severance. Firing people and giving them 8 weeks (or whatever) severance counts as the warning - you just don't work out your notice period in a white collar job like you would in a manufacturing job. The point of the rule is you can't do massive layoffs and say "this is your last paycheck" with no warning or notice period.
The GS one was dated the day layoffs were announced/executed, for example.
Seems inevitable, and this applies to most banks.
Haven't heard anything concrete yet, but there have been suggestions by seniors over the last few months that it's inevitable.
Some groups have been doing absolutely nothing for the last 6 months while others are getting crushed and unable to add headcount lol.
Expecting Lev Fin, ECM and GAM to be hit, but wouldn't be surprised if some of the quieter coverage teams have layoffs as well.
Associate and N3 promos were sparse across the board this year so imagine most of the layoffs will be at the VP/D/MD level.
Forgive my ignorance, but what's GAM and N3?
What groups are being "crushed" btw
GAM = Global asset managers coverage. Aka sponsors.
N3 promotes = analyst 2s that got an offer to return for third year.
think O&G, industrials, and Comms are busy. Have anecdotally heard software group is busy, but also heard there’s a good amount of senior fat in tech coverage.
GAM (Global Asset Managers) is what we call our sponsors coverage team and N3 is 3rd year analyst.
Power, natural resources, industrials and FIG have all been really busy.
Currently at Citi. There is a serious amount of fat at the VP/D level. There is one D in my coverage group that comes into the office at 10, sits in his office / stares at his phone, leaves at 4. No meetings, no calls, no projects.
couple VPs that are close to the same. Delegate literally everything, less than one project per week.
we have one new MD that isn’t doing Jack shit and sounds like a moron on client calls. All the above are toast in the next layoff imo.
This sounds like chems haha
Sounds like the senior M&A bankers at my bank right now. Waiting around until it's an acceptable hour to go home.
lol, not at at Citi, but can confirm this is the life right now.
In your mind, what should a VP delegate vs do themselves?
What are FT return offers looking like for the intern class?
-
Not everyone should expect to receive a FT offer …
Houston about to get wrecked.
jane hates oil and gas for the ESG issues
Then she hates the only group that is consistently showing up in the ‘Citi Wins’ emails
Are the D&I emails still being shoved down your throat?
How busy are people at Citi? Guy I know there seems to be drinking every weekend
that's because he has to work at citi, id do the same if i were in his shoes
Touché
.
What the fuck are you talking about?
.
Better not layoff the people I am working with
Whatever C calls their TMT capital markets group… that group I bet is getting completely gutted
Because it’s tech related with weak deal flow or they are no Bueno?
When did they stop calling it FEG?
-
Lazard had a team they called P-FAG up until a few years ago.
Literally pronounced Pee-Fag
Citi should focus more on O&G. Why?
Drilling oil will reduce energy costs
Reduced energy costs will reduce inflation
Reduced inflation will reduce rates
Reduced rates will boost stocks
Boosted stocks will boost economy
Boosted economy will boost job growth
Boosted job growth will reduce layoffs
#DrillBabyDrill
This actually makes sense to me
Yeah about that...you're not wrong but their new CEO Rachel Maddow didn't like energy, and a bunch of their Houston top brass already jumped ship to Guggenheim.
love this
How do analyst layoffs happen? Do they cut underperforming analysts right before bonuses?
I think analyst 2s are shown the door and analyst 1s get the pink slip
What's a pink slipper
What’s the difference?
It doesn’t make a difference except one receives a severance check and the other does not
So many comments on this post , but what were the final layoff numbers like ?
When would the next wave of layoffs begin?
Any updates here?
Where did this rumor start?
How reliable is this source?
Pretty reliable I guess given jane’s email last week lol
Citi just hired a levfin dealmaker from CS... How deep will these cuts actually be, if any?
I hate the anxiety this OP has given me lol I need to know if this is real or not. Feel like I am in vulnerable position.
I would assume annual budgets are due soon for banking groups. That will likely be the indication.
Can’t pinpoint to an exact date and time. Be reasonable.
Lol I will try. Yeah makes sense.
Just wondering where this rumor / intel started to begin with
Any word on this?
Anyone heard anything re timing? I heard layoffs need to be complete by the time summer interns join
Don't the summer interns come in next week?
Yes
They announced 50 cuts in London according to other thread - 30 IBD, 20 cap markets. Lots of juniors is the word.
Do we think this means US is safe for now?
Not sure where everything done by interns coming in came from, but I hope it is true
No, it's 20 being cut in corporate banking. Capital Markets is not being touched, they already had a round of layoffs already a few months back. They're just experiencing a hiring freeze atm (outside of the normal SA pipeline).
Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/citi-cut-50-london-jobs-122028415.html?g…
US probably not safe, layoffs coming there soon as the teams are far more bloated there than in EMEA.
Brutal
The dominoes are falling...
Care to elaborate? What are you hearing
Happened this week. Analysts to VPs across Coverage, M&A and believe ECM. Got the word from my buddy who unfortunately was laid off
In the US? How many were laid off in IB?
Analysts to Directors**. There were at least 20 cut from IB coverage.
Same heard a few people in coverage and ECM. Mostly VPs
That’s right. Lot of VPs. Surprisingly a lot of more Jr. level as well. Not sure if there is another round coming over the next few months.
Can also confirm coverage VPs
If they are laying off people why are they hiring analysts? I know junior talent is cheaper but doesn’t make a lot of sense?
Are there more rounds coming for Citi?
what is citi severance policy for analysts should they be laid off?
More layoffs today in the NY office. Budgets under heavier scrutiny. Coverage and Product lost Analysts to MDs today.
Messaging has been they’ll have to start laying off talent to meet budget. Non-performance related.
Which groups did you hear about? Have heard two so far
what is severance?
That's unfortunate. Based on Citi's messaging, I assumed the cuts would be focused on streamlining administrative and back office functions
Saw someone make a thread that said “surprised there hasn’t been a thread on this topic [Citi layoffs]” so bumping this.
Update on analysts?
Heard a few were laid off
In which groups?
Any from tmt?
Has fig been impacted?
Yes, scattered layoffs across the floor
How many per group?
POV: You're a mid-bucket AN2 in a Citi coverage group
Lolol
finally, how many people are getting laid? I've been trying to pop my cherry for my entire life at this point
London IB getting hit. More restructuring coming over the next couple of weeks.
Which groups?
Interested in hearing about CMO
So are they having a hiring freeze rn too? Assuming they are
Are non ib roles on a hiring freeze as well? I still see job listings
They should fire all the support and operational people as well as retail people instead of keep culling the institutional people
They're still recruiting for some post MBA non IB opportunities, not sure about the number of people they're trying to hire though.
More coming before YE and again early 2024
And… they’re going to offer leaving packages to select staffers. Lolz
Are they laying off staffers you mean?
Yes, they are laying off staffers.
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