Citigroup CFO, Mark Mason, said on Monday, the bank is hoping to keep expenses flat to slightly up this quarter as persistently low-interest rates and a slowdown in consumer spending have weighed on revenue.

Citigroup plans to resume job cute starting this week, joining rivals like Wells Fargo in ending an earlier pledge to pause staff reductions during coronavirus pandemic. 

The job cuts will not affect the bank’s global workforce, significantly, because of recent hiring. The overall headcount will not show any specific drops, but merely less than a per cent globally. 

"The decision to eliminate even a single colleague role is very difficult, especially during these challenging times," Citigroup said in the statement. "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."

The bank said, it has hired more than 26,000 people this year, and over one-third of those jobs were in the US. The lender had roughly 204,000 employees at the end of the second quarter.

Banks have resumed job cuts in recent weeks after pledging, en masse, to pause such actions earlier this year. Many firms are pushing to cut costs as the pandemic has dragged on, threatening lenders with higher credit costs and crimping revenue growth.

Citigroup CFO, Mark Mason, said on Monday, the bank is hoping to keep expenses flat to slightly up this quarter as persistently low-interest rates and a slowdown in consumer spending have weighed on revenue.

The bank will balance those investments in better governance with plans to reduce its real estate footprint and by moving some employees to less-expensive cities and offices.