Based on Jane’s recent announcement that the bar will be raised and “we will not be graded on effort”, will Citi be taking a Goldman approaching and simply cutting the lowest performers?
It’s hard to believe that memo can be released and still let go of workers with 1’s and 2’s for ratings….
@vk I was told by an MD at one of the other big banks (not Citi) that managers there are not allowed to list someone rated a 4 as 'termination of position' which would qualify them for severance. The 4s are let go with only the 3 months notice mandated by state law. He said the obvious reason is for the bank to save on severance payouts.
At Citi, I was told that managers were ordered to give year-end ratings of 4 ("needs improvement") to 10% of their staff.
I agree with you that there's No public employee record. I Never said there's a Public employee record. I only said the employer, in this case Citi, has your employee record and will Not share or disclose it to anyone or any other employer, unless it's to law enforcement who needs to get a judge to sign a warrant in order to get your employee record.
What I was saying is that for example, if you Insanely wanted to work at Citi again in the future After you were Fired for Cause (criminal activity, etc.), you may be flagged as "Ineligible for Rehire".
At any company you want to go back to work for after having been an employee there years prior, it's best to be upfront and tell the HR Recruiter that you were a previous employee so that you do Not waste your time and effort going through the interview process Only to be told near the end of the hiring cycle that you're Not eligible to be Rehired.
Another example is if you sue the company and win a large settlement, you're Ineligible for Rehire. I know people who did this against WestLB and Morgan Stanley.
@w4 "employee record" only matters if you try and return to Citi. Any company typically does not give you a bad reference unless you broke a law. So gaining employment anywhere else, they wouldn't know if you left Citi voluntarily, a RIF or getting fired, they only provide date of service and validate your employment - if the new company even reaches out to Citi and HR actually responds - which they don't have to. Citi's HR policy is only to provide dates of service and title. They do not want to elaborate for fear of a defamation suit. It's up to you to tell a new company why you left Citi. I certainly wouldn't tell them I got fired for poor performance. Layoff news is rampant in the media. While they may ask why you left, an easy explanation is that it's widely known Citi was cutting staff and you were a victim of that - which is really the truth. But there is no public "employee record".
Getting flagged on your employee record as Fired for Cause depends on the industry. Fired for Cause usually involves criminal activity including but Not limited to r@pe, h@rassment, @ssault, s3xual h@rassment, threats, stealing from the company and/or clients, damaging company property, etc..
Getting fired due to poor performance ratings and/or work is simply, getting fired at least in the banking industry. In some industries such as insurance, they designate any Firing that's Not RIF/Layoff related as getting Fired for Cause, which is Ret@rded and absurd because performance=based Firings are Not criminal activity related. No one got hurt or was in danger of getting hurt.
If your employee record is flagged as Fired for Cause, you will also most likely be designated as Not Eligible for Rehire and this will also be noted on your employee record.
Lesson and moral of the story is be wary of taking jobs in the Insurance and other industries.
RIFs are not performance based. RIFs are based on a position being eliminated as redundant or unnecessary. Therefore a highly rated individual can be in a position the company determines is no longer needed, and therefore get a RIF.
Conversely, being let go for poor performance / "4" rating is called being fired or terminated for cause. A poorly rated person who gets a RIF instead of being fired has received an unintentional mercy.
Amazing how many people don't seem to understand this distinction.
@qv How many times does it need to be stated, re-stated and repeated on this forum? If you are part of a reduction in force -AKA RIF, Layoff etc, you will get severance regardless of rating. However, if you are rated a 4, and not part of a RIF you are a target for getting fired for poor performance. And if you get fired, you get nothing. RIF is a mass reduction in FTE. if you're part of that, you get severance. Getting fired is a one - off, you get nothing. If I was a 4 I'd probably talk to my manager about interest in being laid off. Otherwise you'll get managed out if you're not on the list for a RIF.
Probably also different for each country/state you're in
Do RIF'd employees who were rated 4 get stiffed on the severance package? I know that 2 years ago, a 4 still got regular severance ie 2 weeks for every year. But I wonder if Citi is being harsher when RIF'ing people in 2026.
I got a 1/1 rating but was laid off on Thursday last week in London. Role moving to Belfast.
Anyone got a new role or a promotion after 2023 sep and got RIF'ED?
RIF'ed last Wednesday, ratings 3/3 (was told 3 is the "new" 2), reason for lay off given was location strategy moving roles overseas.
Performance rating (2/3 )did not matter for me given the decision to RiF the role is really a numbers move.
3/2
@b2 same here. In my situation ex boss was on same level as me. Of course she saved her a-s. (Or lack off actually)
I think like rating,who is going to RIF'ed too pre decided. I got 4, I had and showed all the possible evidence which very evidently shows that the rating is forced. But it was like talking to wall (I even sent it to higher management).. please don't advise about HR/Ethics.. I am not in mental state of taking jokes. The point I am trying to convey is if u getting RIF'ed is beneficial for ur manager and he is getting a chance ,he will do it..(if you are 4 ,he already bucketed you) .. u have proof u r not low performer,u have proof u were always got 2 (like me), u have appreciation email for your performance (like me) etc. doesn't matter, even if you show to his manager or higher they'll blindfold themselves. Trust me don't waste your time (not convincing or proving at work too, I experienced it,both are fruitless)
If Jane/Higher management reading this understand cutting people may pump the stock price but unless u figure out u r really cutting the dried leaves or fruitless branch u ll end up more and more fines/errors/compliance issues/losses..this will be vicious cycle
I got a 2/3 and was RIFd on Wed
@at ok but was your rating 4? I understand in many teams these year higher salaries have been rated 4 not the lowest performer
They told me is was location strategy but there are lower performing individuals at the next Clevel up in same location. So I don't really believe it. Was the MD decision. Also tried to get it changed to a true low performer but was told no.
@a9 : Exactly. There are too many coordinators ( just for taking credit at the end of intiatives) who are there just to follow-up(micromanage) without even knowing how much of effort goes in any of the tasks . These people ( contractors as well as FTEs) need to go first instead of actual dev team or working at ground.
At tech side the management has still kept these people and let go actual working people which is leading to extra work and long hours for existing team.
@a9 I understand the redundancy in many orgs. What I am trying to understand it whether this is purely a cost cutting initiative (where good performers can get let go if they have a high salary) OR if Jane wants to move to a more performance / rating based approach like other firms.
Her comments would be conflicting if she says employees will be held to a higher standard yet highly rated performers are being let go.... unless their role is truly redundant or no longer needed then it's understandable.
@aa did anyone in ur team even had 4?
@aa had to? why the 2/1?
I had to RIF a 2/1
And who would be evaluating who is the lowest performer? The manager who never worked or having any idea what's going on or who just ask us about what to do? Not sure if any other team are same but we are one of the dev team who has 3 levels of support team,one client facing ,one who basically promote release and one middle team (who basically tell that they co ordinate and govern both means basically not do anything) I am new to the team,but a management who couldn't even identify that these are redundant role here ,how are they eligible to rate someone?? In any prod call there will be 1 dev (who actually has to fix the problem) 3 support,2-3 manager (1 dev ,1 support,1 may be for moral support) and sometimes 1 client (who has the issue) where's it difficult to find the redundancy..u should see the dance this redundant people make when there's an issue... ofcourse how to prove otherwise
@a3 are you RIF'ed? If so when?
0.0
2 & 3 is what I got