Investment bankers have ‘work-from-beach’ dreams crushed after Citi shutters its Málaga office

• Citi first hired 27 junior bankers To work at its beachside office at Spain's Costa del Sol in 2022, offers less salaries but a softer schedule than the 80- to 100-hour weeks common in the industry. The closing of the program, however, has signed how the junior talent can move back to employers.

Young investment bankers have long faced a tradeoff: time of work punishment for big money. In the middle of the post-covid battle for talent, though, Citigroup tried something else, offering some junior analysts a softer schedule and a post to Spain's famous Costa del Sol.

On Wednesday, however, Citi announced that it had closed the office of the Term of the Andalusian city of Málaga as part of the ongoing push to “simplify the firm” and improve operations. It can also signal how economic headwinds can motivate a broader push for efficiency throughout the industry, forcing banks to focus on job security rather than maintain a similarity to work-life balance.

This is a dynamic -new performance continuously, Benjamin Granger, chief workplace psychologist in the Online Survey Tool Qualtrics, said, Fate. During the pandemia, it was often said, “The war for talent is over, and the talent won.” Employers seem to have gained many things, though, a trend that can continue if the economy is weakened and the borrowing costs are slowly dropping.

“It's more than a continuous tug-of-war,” Granger said.

It is expected to fight the employee of Burnout and attraction, Citi first hired 27 analysts from more than 3,000 applicants in 2022 for the Málaga program, According to In Financial periods. At this time, their salary is about half the $ 100,000 starting salary received by peers at major hubs such as New York, London, or Frankfurt. Instead of 80- to 100-hour weeks common in the industry, however, they promised unemployment at work and weekends.

Citi said six employees from the Málaga office will leave the firm, even though more than 220 people working on Spain's main location in Madrid will not be affected.

“Our emphasis on strengthening mobility efforts and integration of our hub Fate.

A battle against burnout

Manolo Falcó, the global co-head of Citi's investment, has earlier asserted the program in Málaga without a gimmick.

“We are suffering from many churns like the rest of the industry,” he said The Financial periods In 2022. “We lose our talent in private equity and tech, so we are eager to understand if we can prevent that by offering a better balance in work life.”

But efficiency is also focused, especially since tariff uncertainty threatens the rebound in M&A and IPO which has many expectations in the early days of the Trump administration. Global Investment Banking Revenue has fallen 6% years to date at $ 26.2 billion, according to Preliminary data From the dialogic, compared to $ 27.9 billion at the same time last year. The data showed fees collected by CITI, however, jumping from $ 1.25 billion to $ 1.36 billion.

Unlike competitors who have pushed a strict return-office mandate, Citi allows most employees to work a hybrid schedule with at least three days per week in the office. CEO Jane Fraser has been reported to be said to be allowed by the company of distant work can serve as a competitive advantage and recruitment tool.

However, concerns about industry working conditions have undergone recent tragedies. Last year, ex-army Green Beret Leo Lukenas III died of a blood clot following a few 100-hour-plus weeks as an associate in Bank of America. Then in January, Carter Anthony Mcintosh, a 28-year-old, died in Jefferies, from a suspected overdose after Reported Employed by similar times.

In 2024, an annual Survey Of the more than 500 banks conducted by Wall Street Oasis found first-year analysts clocking an average of 74 hours per week.

When Citi opened the Málaga office in 2022, some argued that it was far from a real solution to the scary schedule facing many junior bankers.

“If I work at Citibank I won't go anywhere near such an offer,” Molly Johnson-Jones, a former investment banker, write in a letter to Financial periods In 2022. “Perhaps more companies embrace real flexibility in employment, and based on output fees than working location or time, people can work on their own terms – and companies do not have to take desperate steps to prevent burnout.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com