You are wanting to start a business and are looking for a location. You notice this one store is in a good location but there’s a lot of turnover and you don’t know why. One day its a restaurant, months later a donut shop, months later a nail salon etc…. For some reason, maybe its plumbing or wiring or something else but for whatever reason, in spite of its location which is awesome, businesses there come and go. So, you avoid it as an investment.
So for Citi, outside applicants notice, no growth but always hiring for the same positions all the time. They notice people leaving, all the time. They notice that it takes the hiring process many months sometimes. They notice the stock price not move. They don’t know why there’s no growth or why turnover is high or why the stock does not move up, all they know is that they should “avoid that place”.
Meanwhile inside the company you get “why can’t we hire”.
The question is not “why can’t we hire” but rather “why can’t we retain our talent?”, that’s what needs to be asked.