Like Goldman Sachs, Citi ended the first quarter with fewer people than it began. The bank said today that 2,000 people disappeared during the quarter. They seem to have been paid relatively handsomely to go on their way.
The chart below, taken from Citi’s investor presentation, shows the bank’s headcount changes each quarter, and its quarterly severance payments. Headcount changes are net and may not exactly map the number of people cut, but using them as a proxy for layoffs it appears that Citi might be removing people higher up the pay scale.
In the first quarter of 2026, for example, Citi’s headcount fell by 2,000 people. This is double the 1,000 people the bank was said to be cutting back in January. Citi spent $500m on severance in the quarter, implying $250k each for the 2,000 people who went on.
Using this methodology, Citi’s first quarter severance payments look historically generous. In the third quarter of 2025, the bank only seems to have paid $67k each to its departing staff; in the fourth it seems to have paid them $100k.
Presuming net headcount figures are indeed an accurate proxy for job cuts, Citi therefore seems to have decided to be kind to its inadvertent leavers. Howeverm severance payments are not a reflection of benevolence but of salaries. And so, Citi seems to have been cutting more expensive people in Q1.