Citigroup has laid off or notified 7,000 employees of job cuts as part of its sweeping reorganization, moving closer to its goal of reducing headcount by 20,000 by 2026.
“As we notify individuals, there is a notification period that runs some 90 days,” Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason said Friday during a media call. “So you won’t see that headcount reduction all show up in the first quarter. It will instead play out over time.”
The job reductions come as part of a broader turnaround strategy led by CEO Jane Fraser, which includes streamlining operations into five key business units and exiting certain overseas markets.
Mason noted that the simplified structure is already yielding benefits.
“The heads of those five businesses sit at the table with Jane and with me, and we can talk about where we see opportunities,” Mason said. “We are realizing additional revenues and are able to better drive services to clients.”
Despite the workforce cuts, Citigroup posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings, reporting earnings per share of $1.58 on revenue of $21.1 billion. The results beat Wall Street projections, sending shares up 1.7% on Friday morning.