A360
Key Takeaways✦ Atlas AI
01
Cboe is cutting its workforce by 20% and selling several international exchanges as part of a new strategy to focus on core markets like options and futures.
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The company has tightened its work policies, mandating a four-day office week for hybrid staff and requiring many of its remote employees to relocate to company hubs.
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While cutting jobs, Cboe plans to hire for new ventures in tokenization, prediction markets, and clearing, signaling a pivot toward future growth drivers.
Atlas AI
Major Overhaul Under New Leadership
Cboe Global Markets is undergoing a major restructuring, slashing its global workforce by yüzde yirmi and overhauling its remote work and office policies.
The changes are part of a decisive strategic pivot implemented by CEO Craig Donohue, who took leadership of the exchange operator in May 2025. In a memo to employees on Friday, Donohue outlined the plan designed to sharpen the company's focus and reallocate capital toward core growth areas.
Approximately one-fifth of Cboe's global staff of around 1,670 have been laid off. In addition to the cuts, the company is offering a voluntary retirement program to certain employees in the U.S. and Canada who are at least 55 years old with a minimum of five years of service.
Streamlining Operations for Core Growth
The Cboe restructuring aims to concentrate resources on its most profitable segments, including index options, futures, and foreign-exchange markets, as well as its stock operations in the U.S. and Europe.
This refocus follows several recent strategic divestments. Cboe has already shuttered its equities operation in Japan and is in the process of selling its stock exchanges in Canada and Australia. The layoffs associated with these closures are included in the yüzde yirmi total workforce reduction.
While streamlining existing operations, Donohue confirmed Cboe intends to hire new talent for planned expansions into emerging sectors. The company is actively pursuing growth in prediction markets, the tokenization of assets, and clearing services.
“I’ve been trying to reorient the company to be more focused on optimizing growth in our core,” Donohue stated, adding that the move allows a “pivot to these new areas of growth.”
New Policies on Remote and Hybrid Work
Cboe is also implementing stricter workplace policies that significantly alter its approach to remote and hybrid arrangements. Starting July 6, employees on a hybrid schedule will be required to work from the office four days a week, doubling the previous two-day mandate.
Furthermore, the company has asked about yüzde altmış of its fully remote employees to relocate near one of its primary office hubs. These locations include Chicago, New York, Kansas City, London, Amsterdam, and Singapore. Relocation packages will be offered to affected staff.
Certain roles, such as developers and some IT staff, will be permitted to continue working fully from home. However, the new policy states that remote employees will not be eligible for promotions into management roles. Donohue is scheduled to discuss these sweeping changes with employees at a town hall meeting.
