Report: Goldman Sachs to Reduce Staff by Up to 5% in Annual Review

Goldman Sachs reportedly plans to cut 3% to 5% of its staff in an annual review process.

The cut would amount to about 1,395 jobs and would be a larger reduction than the one the Wall Street firm made during a review in September, Reuters reported Tuesday (March 4), citing unnamed sources.

According to the report, a Goldman Sachs spokesman did not give details about the move but said: “This is part of our normal, annual talent management process.”

It was reported in August that Goldman Sachs’ annual review process typically cuts between 2% and 7% of its workforce, with the percentage changing in different years depending on the bank’s financial outlook and overall market conditions.

When plans for layoffs were announced at that time, a Goldman Sachs spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that the bank’s total headcount was expected to remain higher at the end of 2024 than it was in 2023.

“Our annual talent reviews are normal, standard and customary, but otherwise unremarkable,” Goldman Sachs spokesperson Tony Fratto told the WSJ on Aug. 30.

Goldman Sachs made several rounds of workforce reductions in 2023 amid a decline in dealmaking and the firm’s exit from a consumer business, according to Tuesday’s Reuters report.

More recently, deals and market activity have picked up, and Goldman Sachs reported a three-year high in quarterly profits in January, per the report.

Goldman Sachs earned higher net revenues across all segments in the fourth quarter, the bank said in a Jan. 15 earnings report. It saw year-over-year gains of 33% in Global Banking & Markets, 8% in Asset & Wealth Management and 16% in Platform Solutions.

In a presentation released in conjunction with its quarterly earnings call, Goldman Sachs attributed the growth in part to higher net revenues in equity underwriting and debt underwriting and in intermediation and financing in the Global Banking & Markets business.

“There has been a meaningful shift in CEO confidence, particularly following the results of the U.S. election,” CEO David Solomon said during the call. “Additionally, there is a significant backlog from sponsors and an overall increased appetite for deal-making supported by an improved regulatory backdrop. The combination of these conditions should spur further activity in 2025.”

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