Bank Jobs Are Declining at a Record Rate

2020 has been the worst year for banking jobs since 2015.

By Nicole Spector September 21, 2020 Find a Bank

As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the economy, the banking industry is also taking a hard hit. According to a Bloomberg analysis, 63,785 jobs in the banking sector have been lost this year, and that number is going up. Following a pause in staff reductions, Citigroup is resuming staff cuts this week — on the heels of workforce reductions at Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC and Wells Fargo.

At this rate, the banking sector is set to exceed last year’s job loss toll of nearly 80,000, making 2020 the worst year for banking since 2015, during which big banks in Europe and the U.S. slashed nearly 100,000 new jobs, the Financial Times reported. The Citigroup cuts will amount to less than 1% of its global workforce as it looks to reel in costs ahead of expected business and personal loan losses.

“The decision to eliminate even a single colleague’s role is very difficult, especially during these challenging times,” Citigroup said in a statement, which noted that the company made 26,000 hires this year. “We will do our best to support each person, including offering the ability to apply for open roles in other parts of the firm and providing severance packages.”

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About the Author

Nicole Spector

Nicole Spector is a writer, editor, and author based in Los Angeles by way of Brooklyn. Her work has appeared in Vogue, the Atlantic, Vice, and The New Yorker. She’s a frequent contributor to NBC News and Publishers Weekly. Her 2013 debut novel, “Fifty Shades of Dorian Gray” received laudatory blurbs from the likes of Fred Armisen and Ken Kalfus, and was published in the US, UK, France, and Russia — though nobody knows whatever happened with the Russian edition! She has an affinity for Twitter.