Citi is shutting an office on the Spanish coast intended to improve work-life balance after just 3 years

• Citigroup is closing an office in Spain opened to offer junior bankers a better work-life balance.
• The office in the coastal city of Málaga was open for just three years.
• The closure comes as Wall Street readjusts its workplace expectations in the post-pandemic world.

Citigroup is closing its coastal office in the south of Spain, which was opened just three years ago to offer staff a better work-life balance.

The Málaga workplace was set up to promote eight-hour Monday-to-Friday workdays for junior investment bankers.

In a statement on Wednesday, Citi confirmed to Business Insider that it told colleagues the office would be closing as the New York-headquartered bank continues to execute its "strategy to simplify the firm" and improve its operations.

The office was opened in 2022 following the COVID-19 lockdowns. Its scenic location in Spain's famous Costa del Sol region proved competitive for the bank, offering a stark difference from the 100-hour weeks junior bankers on Wall Street had grown accustomed to.

Most staff will be relocated, but six will leave the bank, Citi said.

"Our emphasis on fostering colleague mobility efforts and integrating our hubs is evident in the successful applications by many of our colleagues from Málaga for positions in our London and Paris hubs," Citi said.

According to a Financial Times report, when the bank first launched the Málaga initiative, 27 analysts were chosen from over 3,000 applicants.

"Our primary Spanish location is Madrid, where we employ more than 220 people who are not impacted by this action," the firm said.

"Citi continues our strategic growth in Spain with a strong presence in our core business lines, which include Investment Banking, Wealth and Markets."

Wall Street's shift to RTO

Citi's closure of its Málaga office comes as Wall Street moves back toward pre-pandemic norms regarding attitudes to work.

This has been most evident in the sweeping return-to-office mandates enacted by many major financial institutions.

While Wall Street's biggest names have eagerly gotten employees back to their desks in downtown offices, Citi has stood by its hybrid work policy.

The majority of employees have the option to work from home three days a week, unlike most of its competitors. Goldman Sachs mandated staff to come into the office five days a week, and since March, all JPMorgan workers have had to work from the office Monday to Friday as well.

In June 2023, Citi told its UK employees it would start monitoring office attendance data. Staff found consistently not coming into the workplace on required days risk being disciplined, from having their bonuses adjusted to being fired.