At the highest levels of the global banking industry where pressures and stakes are enormous, not many bank leaders have dared to implement as radical a change at their institutions as Jane Fraser at Citigroup. Ever since she took over the post of CEO in 2021 as the first female to head a major Wall Street bank, Fraser has navigated Citi through an extensive restructuring which, among other things, aimed at simplifying the bank, increasing efficiency, and sharpening the focus on the best performing businesses. To a considerable extent, the key parts of these plans were to make serious job cuts and strategically pull out from 14 international consumer markets a decision that under one hand caused fear among the employees and But the bank recorded quite impressive bottom line and shareholder results.
Her plan was born of the idea that the bank had become like a complicated large bureaucratic machine which was a major obstacle for the bank to fight well the competition. Too much management layers, up to double digits, and various operations scattered into isolated retail banking segments were the main problems of the bank. That is why she initiated a series of steps spanning several years, resulting in the simplification of the whole bank into five main business areas: Services Markets Banking, Wealth and U.S. Personal Banking. Besides other things, that retrenchment from 13 layers into just 8 of them was meant to make decision-making faster and cut out job duplications.
One of the most important measures of the renewal was the laying off of roughly 20,000 workers till the end of 2026, So decreasing the worldwide workforce size to closer to 180,000. This year, one of the layoffs included 1,000 cuts and the senior levels reductions before March have also been announced But the ongoing employees’ number alignment with the help of technological advances and changing business priorities are the reasons for such actions. These, in fact, are not indiscriminate dismissals but carefully thought through, usually tied to automation results and the need for a more stringent performance standards. Fraser in an internal memo has described a culture based on delivering results: one is evaluated by ones outputs not by effort alone indicating an altogether different approach to measuring performance from the past when mediocrity was tolerated.
The major layoffs have been accompanied with Truth is Citi has systematically got rid of its consumer and retail businesses in 14 non-core markets. That list includes countries across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East such as Australia China India Indonesia South Korea Malaysia the Philippines Poland Russia, Taiwan Thailand Vietnam, etc. the case of Mexico’s Banamex being a very challenging divestiture that involved both sales and IPO path. The reasoning was simple, the bank didn’t have the scale enough to effectively compete in those local retail sectors.
Some of these changes have hit very deep and directly for those that have been with Citi for a very long time. Gossiping is going around about how even highly skilled employees were put in a very difficult position after staying up to that point, that is in the shuffling of staff and the changes of locations almost everywhere. But Fraser considers the pain as a sort of a healing process. The change, which during its darkest period was much of the time work, has started to show very good results. In the first quarter of 2026, Citi announced that its quarterly revenue was the highest it had been in a decade, with most the earnings of the different divisions showing strong results, and the return on tangible common equity hitting a level that had not been seen for years. Since Fraser has arrived, the shares have also risen greatly, exceeding the performance of several other counterparts in the industry, partly because of a regained sense of purpose. Both the critics and the fans are always keeping their eyes open. The fans highlight In reality the company has been simplified, the regulatory issues have been unwrapped and the small footprint that was left after closing many branches in neighborhoods is the reason that Citi is now seen as a player in global finance that can change directions quickly and operate more efficiently.
The critics But, are concerned about i) the breakdown of tradition and values as the company rushes to change so rapidly, ii) the loss of talent and iii) the turnover as this is an industry that has already been affected through its AI-driven methods. Fraser Still is still firmly set on her goal. The roll out plan of a disciplined, confident Citi is continuously being pushed, a company that is looking for competitive advantages rather than wondering over old habits. It is 2026 and the bank is busy making the last changes. Cutting back more top-level people and market exits after completing other parts of restructuring are all signs that the work is being kept on the right track. Jane Fraser’s focus is on the bank being able to withstand any challenges coming its way for a very long time. She also is convinced that with bold decisions – even by taking a risk of being a bit uncomfortable with the changes a banking giant can be brought back to life. Shareholders seem to accept this version of events, though only time will tell if the bank can hold on to this pace against the backdrop of economic risks and the industry’s changing needs.
The transformation of the company, with her at the helm, is providing a very good example of how a very large and old business can go through rebranding: At times intentionally downsizing is the safest route to becoming the strongest one.
