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Story 253
To Story 251 and all the others: I am so incredibly sorry that you’re going through this. There are few things more stressful than feeling like a “tracked animal” for months, knowing the axe is coming but being forced to wait for it. What you are describing is part of Citi’s M.O. leading up to layoffs. It is a calculated strategy: they identify their targets early…
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Story 252
I am a VP based in Florida with Citi. This is my first “real” job out of college. Last year, I filed an HR complaint after noticing that my annual review had been changed from neutral / positive-ish to decidedly negative, after I had acknowledged it. I was shocked. I included screen shots of before and after pictures of what had happened with written details of…
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Story 251
A couple of months ago I submitted story 83, and I’m coming back here to report that I was laid off last week as part of Citi’s ongoing round of cuts. Unfortunately I can’t say I was surprised by the layoff though it was still a jarring experience. Since the start of the year, my manager stonewalled me, gave me a dead end role and refused…
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Story 250
To Story 245: What you describe closely mirrors what was reported in the Financial Times coverage of Citi’s CSIS division. Employee raises a concern and is quickly surrounded by lawyers who present themselves as fact-finders, but in reality are focused on gauging how firmly you intend to stand by your account—because if you do, you risk being targeted for termination or a layoff. Very wise to…
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Story 249
To Story 246 / 247, and to this forum: Thank you for your extension. It added something your original response couldn’t carry alone — the self-implication, the long road, the honest accounting of what it cost you to get here. It allowed me to hear you differently, and I’m grateful you shared it. I want to offer the same honesty in return. When I wrote 242,…
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Story 248
To the Queen who wrote Story 246: As a lifelong “short short” essay obsessive, you nailed it. The art form asks the writer to do less so the reader can feel more. Excess is forbidden; every word carries weight, every sentence must move the idea forward or deepen it. What’s left unsaid is the point. You have a gift. Thank you for sharing it with us.…
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Story 247
On Staying in the Room — A Response to Story 242 and a Continuation of 246. I responded in Story 246. And now let me be clear about what I am doing. Very early in my career I was almost always the only woman in a pack of men. I was put off by women who seemed hard, guarded, unwilling to let me in, and those…
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Story 246
To Story 242, what you have written here is brave, and I want to honor that. But I also want to name what is living beneath the surface of this reflection, because you have already named it yourself, even if you pulled back from its full weight. Angela Davis said that “we have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.” What you are…
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Story 245
The Day I Became a Threat What happens when you do everything right — and it’s used against you I have spent my career being the person who follows the rules. Not out of timidity — out of principle. I report what needs to be reported. I document what needs to be documented. I show up prepared with strategy, I lead with data, and I build…
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Story 244
In the summer of 2024, the screens inside the elevators at 388 Greenwich were broadcasting a message to everyone passing through: we need to change the internal perception of ourselves. We are not a bad bank. By August of that year, internal communications were acknowledging that Citi lagged behind its competitors in all aspects material to running a business. That included risk management and financial management.…