Citi CEO Jane Fraser's stark warning to staff amid bank's job cut announcement, says 'every one of us has to adopt...'

Citigroup is set to cut about 1,000 jobs this week as part of a plan announced two years ago to reduce the workforce by 20,000 by end of this year, Reuters reported citing a source. Citi CEO Jane Fraser has made clear that she expects employees to level up their game this year in a company memo, reports Business Insider. In the memo, Fraser said it is time to look to the future, shed old habits, and buckle down. In a memo titled "The bar is raised", Citi CEO Jane Fraser told the company's more than 200,000 employees that she expects higher performance this year. Citi CEO Jane Fraser is embracing a player-coach approach this year—and making it clear she expects her team to run another lap.

'Adopt a more commercial mindset'

"Every one of us has to adopt a more commercial mindset: asking for the business, competing for the full wallet, and not settling for a secondary role or missed opportunity. We are not graded on effort. We are judged on our results. And I expect to see the last vestiges of old, bad habits fall away, and a more disciplined, more confident, winning Citi fully emerge in 2026," Citi CEO Jane Fraser wrote in the memo. "That evolution is a direct consequence of the higher expectations that we've set and the standard required to meet them consistently."

"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 continued in the Wednesday memo.


Citi said that more than 80% of its Transformation effort is complete. The completion of the project will also result in "some overall role reductions as our head count continues to come down, " Fraser said. The bank has hinted that it is sticking to the plan Fraser laid out in early 2024 to cut up to 20,000 jobs over three years. The streamlining is part of a broader corporate overhaul known internally as the “Transformation,” a sweeping effort to modernise outdated technology and drive efficiencies. When Fraser first announced the plan, the bank estimated the cuts would deliver about $2.5 billion in cost savings.

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Citi bank's headcount plans

In a media briefing ahead of the firm’s fourth-quarter earnings call, the bank’s outgoing chief financial officer, Mark Mason, linked the job cuts to increased investments in artificial intelligence.

This year, "I would expect to see head count continue to trend down," Mason told reporters on Wednesday morning, adding that the firm had made "headway" over toward its goal. "As we make progress on our Transformation, we'll see that cost and headcount come down as we continue to improve productivity and tools like AI," he said.

Citi, like its other Wall Street rivals, has said that amplifying the adoption of artificial intelligence across the firm is a priority. Last year, it announced multiple AI leadership shakeups to drive its strategy.

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"With much of our Transformation behind us, we are shifting our focus to how we can use AI tools and automation to further innovate, re-engineer, and simplify our processes beyond risk and controls," Fraser said on Wednesday's earnings call with shareholders.

She also spoke about other ambitions during the meeting. "We're going to continue to bring in top talent to fill in remaining gaps" in the investment bank's workforce, particularly in North America, she said in response to a question from a bank analyst. "While we have some more work to do, I do feel really good about where we are."