More Bulge-Bracket Layoffs Coming
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, UBS reportedly plan cuts
May 8, 2008
Morgan Stanley will cut 5% of its workforce, while Goldman Sachs is rumored to be laying off leveraged-finance professionals.
A source familiar with the situation at Morgan said the 5% will include employees mostly based in the U.S. and in all businesses except global wealth management.
A Morgan spokeswoman issued a statement to IDD but declined to comment further: "We are constantly evaluating business conditions to ensure we are right-sized for the environment."
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Goldman is reducing headcount in its leveraged finance business. A spokesman for the bank, Michael DuVally, told the news service, "Given market conditions, we've been looking at a number of areas where we believe we have too many people. We've transferred some people to other areas and other regions, while others have been asked to leave the firm."
DuVally told IDD the statement was issued in response to questions from the media about possible layoffs by Goldman in businesses seeing lower activity. He said the statement was not released as a result of actual job cuts.
DuVally also said Goldman expects a headcount growth percentage in the "low single digits" this year. He declined to comment on the firm's leveraged-finance division.
Another source close to Goldman said any job cuts beyond the bottom 5% from the previous year, an annual exercise conducted by the firm during the first quarter, are "long in the past."
In addition, UBS announced yesterday it expects to terminate 5,500 jobs, including 2,600 in its investment bank.
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