Citi’s commercial bank plans major hiring spree

Citigroup plans to hire about 900 people across the globe over the next three years as part of a recently outlined initiative to build scale in its commercial banking business.

The bulk of the hiring will take place, at least initially, in high-growth-potential areas such as the United States, China, Brazil, India and countries in Western Europe, Citi said Monday in a press release. The new employees — who will join a team that includes 1,300 bankers managing 14,000 clients across 60 countries — will help Citi drum up more businesses from midsize, globally minded firms whose annual revenues range from $10 million to $3 billion.

The hiring plans were partially unveiled during last week’s investor day when Tasnim Ghiawadwala, global head of Citi’s commercial bank, announced that Citi would hire 400 commercial bankers “to increase [Citi’s] capacity in the markets that [it] wants to grow.”

The remaining 500 jobs will be a mix of product, credit, support and management roles, a Citi spokesperson said Monday.

The expansion of Citi’s commercial bank is one part of the “strategic refresh” introduced in early 2021 by CEO Jane Fraser. Last week, Fraser and other top executives of the $2.3 trillion-asset company took investors on a deep dive into Citi’s five core businesses and how the company plans to expand each one, all with an eye on improving profitability and returns to shareholders.

The commercial bank falls into the core business that Citi refers to as “banking,” which also includes investment and corporate banking. The other core businesses that Citi has identified are: services, which includes the treasury and trade solutions segment; markets, which includes fixed income and equities; U.S. personal banking, which includes branded credit cards, retail services and Citi’s retail banking network; and the now-unified global wealth management arm.

In addition to hiring more bankers, the commercial bank plans to expedite growth by training existing bankers, moving into new markets, developing a new digital portal and offering clients the same services and products available to larger commercial customers, Ghiawadwala told investors last week.

Citi’s commercial bank generates about $2.7 billion in annual revenue, but “the runway … to grow is really, really long,” Ghiawadwala said. The company aims to double its global commercial banking market share from 2% to 4%, which would add another $3 billion in revenues, she said.

“Our focus now is to drive growth and scale this business up,” Ghiawadwala said.