Citigroup wants to help American families build financial stability. Unless those families work for Citigroup.
On 28 January 2026, the Citi Foundation announced a $35 million (£25.72 million) initiative to help low-income households ‘manage today, build for tomorrow and protect what they have worked hard to achieve.’ The press release cited Pew Research Centre data showing only 20% of low-income Americans say their finances are in good shape. It referenced Financial Health Network findings that less than half of low-income Americans have enough savings to cover three months of expenses.
The timing is impossible to ignore. Just two weeks earlier, Citigroup confirmed it had eliminated roughly 1,000 positions in a pre-bonus wave of cuts. More layoffs are expected in March, after bonuses are paid. By the end of 2026, approximately 60,000 workers will have lost their jobs as part of CEO Jane Fraser’s sweeping restructuring campaign, 40,000 of those are staff who are expected to depart when Citigroup lists its Mexican retail banking business, Banamex.
So here’s the uncomfortable arithmetic. Divide that $35 million (£25.72 million) by 60,000 displaced workers. Each one is worth about $583 (£428.36) in Citi’s goodwill budget. Each of the 70 nonprofits receiving grants will pocket $500,000 (£367,375), an amount equivalent to roughly 857 employees at that per-head rate.
The Language That Stings
The Citi Foundation’s stated mission is to help households ‘find more financial stability, safety and a stronger footing’. Brandee McHale, President of the Citi Foundation, said in the announcement: ‘We believe there is an important role for community-based organisations delivering financial health-focused programming.’
But for thousands of Citi workers, that stability is being pulled out from under them. Fraser’s internal memo, reported by Bloomberg in January, told staff the ‘bar is raised’. ‘We are not graded on effort,’ she wrote. ‘We are judged on our results.’ The bank is targeting employees with low performance ratings, but industry insiders say the timing around bonus cycles has created anxiety about whether those ratings are genuine or engineered.
The Foundation’s three grant focus areas read like a cruel irony for affected workers. ‘Stabilise’ aims to help households during moments of financial stress. ‘Strengthen’ focuses on building credit and emergency funds. ‘Safeguard’ protects against financial harm and setbacks.
Citi employees facing redundancy could use all three.
Reputation Management or Genuine Philanthropy?
Academic research has long examined why companies increase charitable giving during periods of public scrutiny. A January 2026 study published in the Journal of Management & Organisation found that firms often boost donations following controversies as a ‘bolstering strategy’. The catch? Such giving ‘could be interpreted as a self-interested attempt at ingratiation, rather than an expression of genuine altruism.’
The study warned that philanthropy during reputational strain can appear as ‘superficial virtue signalling rather than a fundamental change in the company’s ethical stance.’
Citi’s announcement fits the pattern. The Foundation’s initiative dropped just as headlines focused on layoffs, Fraser’s tough-love memo, and reports that the bank was cutting staff before bonus announcements to save on severance.
The Human Cost Behind the Numbers
This is not a story about spreadsheets. According to Bloomberg Intelligence, global banks could shed as many as 200,000 roles over the next three to five years as artificial intelligence takes over tasks once done by humans. Back-office, middle-office, and operational roles are most exposed.
At Citi, January’s cuts targeted high-cost locations. March’s round is expected to hit compliance, anti-money laundering, and manual operations teams. The bank has said reductions reflect ‘efficiencies gained through technology’ and ‘progress against our transformation work’.
For workers in those roles, the message is stark: retrain or risk being squeezed out.
What This Means for You
If you work in financial services, the writing is on the wall. The jobs disappearing today are unlikely to return. And if you’re one of the 60,000 Citi employees losing their livelihoods, the Foundation’s $35 million (£25.72 million) initiative will do nothing to cushion the blow.
The grant money will help some low-income families. It will fund debt counselling, fraud prevention, and emergency savings programmes. These are good causes. But the optics are upsetting.
Citi is spending millions to stabilise strangers while destabilising its own workforce. The bank’s message to the world is that household financial resilience matters. Just not for everyone.
Originally published on IBTimes UK
