US investment banking group Goldman Sachs is reportedly set to reduce the group’s workforce by a few hundred employees as part of its annual review process.
The layoff will target underperformers, reported Reuters, citing an undisclosed source with knowledge of the matter.
Goldman Sachs expects to start the job cuts in the next few weeks, spanning across the bank. It is also anticipated that the process will take a few months to complete.
The investment bank resumed performance-related job cuts in 2022 after pausing the practice for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, this exercise reportedly resulted in the dismissal of 1% to 5% of Goldman Sachs’ staff.
Conducted under the group’s strategic resource assessment, the cuts have varied depending on market conditions and the bank’s financial outlook.
As of 30 June 2024, Goldman Sachs employed 44,300 people globally. The bank undertook several rounds of workforce reductions in 2023, driven by a slowdown in dealmaking and the impact of high interest rates on the macroeconomic environment.
A Goldman Sachs spokesperson has been quoted by Reuters as saying: “Our annual talent reviews are normal, standard and customary, but otherwise unremarkable.
“We expect to have more people working at Goldman Sachs in 2024 than 2023.”
In July 2024, Goldman Sachs reported a 150% increase in its net earnings for the second quarter of 2024 (Q2 2024) at $3.04bn compared to $1.21bn reported in the same quarter of the previous year.
The net revenues of the American investment banking group were $12.73bn, a 16.8% growth from the net revenues of $10.89bn made in Q2 2023.
For the first half of 2024, Goldman Sachs’ net revenues and net earnings were $26.94bn and $7.18bn, respectively.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the job cut could affect up to 1,800 employees, representing 3% to 4% of Goldman Sachs’ workforce. However, Reuters stated that Goldman Sachs refuted the accuracy of the numbers reported by The Wall Street Journal.
