In 2022, while new investment bankers complained of burning from a record-block boom, Citigroup had a solution to bringing and maintaining a new talent: a better balance of working life in Spain Costa del Sol.
The American Bank employed 27 analysts to work from a newly opened office in Málaga-a city favored by tourists and Spaniards equally for its sun, sea, restaurants and bars-promising eight-hour days and free weekends.
Citi rivals labeled him a stunt publicity that would do little to change the culture in Wall Street. But Manolo Falcó, then the global co-director of investment banks banks, insisted “this is not a scam”.
Less than three years later, the office is closed and most of the staff moved to London. A small part of the employees are left to go while the Sun decides with an initiative created to break away from the traditional working conditions facing new analysts who do most of the boring work in the investment bank.
Former employees who worked in the Málaga office of Citi, as well as those involved in the project, say the reality changed in the bank field, with many hours long in the hope of gaining coveted roles in cities such as London and Paris.
“This flexibility that was marketed as the essence of the offer there was not really respected,” said a former Málaga -based employee. “If you want to succeed and move to London, you can’t do it without doing the same hours of work as people there.”
The project was conceived by a trio of Citi leaders: Nacho Gutiérrez-Worrantia, who was then the Chief of Investment Investment by Citi EMEA and capital markets; María Díaz del Río, Chief of Staff for that business; and Falcó.
The team looked at various countries, including Portugal, Poland and the Republic of Czecheke, but landed in Spain – encouraged by Málaga’s friendly business approach.
Each of the analysts employed by the group of more than 3,000 applicants was allocated to one of the London industry teams. If they performed well at the end of a two-year period, Málaga could be a springboard for a job in the city.
The process was mainly managed by Del Río, who helped set new bankers in different teams, and an old manager was on the ground to manage shifts so that analysts did not work long hours.
But former employees say that the promise of a job in London, where they could be in the heart of the action, made them feel that they had to work longer hours in order to get out of their peers.
“Many of the employees in Málaga were deplorable,” said a person known for the initiative. “There were a lot of promises but little progress.”
Citi said that “his emphasis on promoting colleague’s mobility efforts and integrating our centers” was “visible in successful applications by many of our Málaga colleagues for positions in our London and Paris centers. The bank did not specify how many of the Málaga employees moved to other places.
New analysts in Spain say they had more flexibility, but for those who wanted to move over it it was a chance to work at the same hour with their London counterparts as they earned half the salary.
Citi analysts in Málaga said they were offered an initial salary of $ 55,000 while peers in large financial centers like London and New York make up $ 100,000.
“It is very subjective for the job you were doing,” said one employee. “The more you were willing to engage in the cause, the more projects you received.”
If Málaga employees were not willing to make themselves available until the early hours of the morning, they may not be separated the most sought after mandates and this could destroy their chances to move, they added.
Banks are being caught up with how to withdraw and maintain talent, especially during the boom in agreement that followed the fall of the pandemics when new employees complained of combustion and 100-hour work weeks.
New bankers in Goldman Sachs described “inhumane conditions” in a presentation deck that caused a host of new initiatives, some of which included at least one day of rest or a limit on the amount of hours that employees could register.
But a better equilibrium of work and life among new employees is contrary to the demands of investment banks, where registered hours and tireless work are often coins to gain a promotion.
An employee of Citi in Málaga who moved to London called the culture within the “truly special” office because he had united young people from different nationalities who were looking forward to doing well.
“Surely I will never go to work in an atmosphere like (the one) I reached there,” the person said again.
But the weaknesses of a new 20-year-old staff initiative-launched just before the chief executive are Fraser to launch a major restructuring of the bank-there was a lack of supervision by confused managers.
Del Río’s departure as part of the restructuring in 2024 meant that there was no one to oversee the group and employees in Málaga felt forgotten. “It had its evils, not having your elderly there,” said one former employee.
When the office opened for the first time in the summer of 2022, there was an office manager overseeing the analyst’s class for nearly a year, they said. After that, there was a rotating door of the elderly entering and leaving the office and there was a long stretch where there was no elderly presence at all.
“We had a six-month space where we were completely forgotten,” the former employee said.
“When there was no manager, it was a pure anarchy, there were people you won’t see for months, the morality was so low,” they added. There was poor office participation after it became increasingly clear that Citi was likely to close it and some employees who set out for other jobs were not replaced.
Citi said in a statement last week that the decision to close the office was part of its strategy to “simplify the firm and make improvements in the way we act”.
Included, they say that the Málaga office was a victim of the Bora Bora project, the name of the internal code used for the main restructuring of CITI. With no more in the bank and both Falcó and Gutiérrez-Worrantia in various roles, there was no one to support the cause.
“People lost focus because of (restructuring) and without that strength by pushing it forward, who is supporting that?” said another person included in the program. “The concept was good. It was poor execution.”
For many of the Málaga -based analysts, the Sunshine Coast was a stop for a better job in London. But for those who hoped that investment banks could offer something different, the Proposal only imposed a plaster on a major issue.
One of the employees said, “They sold us the dream but the reality was much different.”
