Goldman Sachs makes ‘brutal’ job cuts in quest for lower costs

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Goldman Sachs makes ‘brutal’ job cuts in quest for lower costs Group pays some bankers no bonus for last year’s work while giving others 30 minutes to leave People work on the trading floor at the global headquarters of Goldman Sachs at 200 West Street in New York © REUTERS Goldman Sachs makes ‘brutal’ job cuts in quest for lower costs on twitter (opens in a new window) Goldman Sachs makes ‘brutal’ job cuts in quest for lower costs on facebook (opens in a new window) Goldman Sachs makes ‘brutal’ job cuts in quest for lower costs on linkedin (opens in a new window) Save current progress 33% Joshua Franklin and Ortenca Aliaj in New York, Stephen Morris in London 4 HOURS AGO 65 Print this page Receive free Goldman Sachs Group updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Goldman Sachs Group news every morning. Goldman Sachs on Wednesday sacked bankers at its offices in cities from New York and London to Hong Kong, dismissing many employees without paying a bonus for work performed last year while giving some junior bankers 30 minutes to gather their belongings and leave. The layoffs are the most concrete example of a deep cost-cutting drive at the Wall Street bank, as chief executive David Solomon tries to reduce expenses following several years of expansion and a slowdown in its investment banking business. Goldman embarked on the process of cutting 3,200 jobs last week but a significant proportion of affected bankers were given their marching orders on Wednesday. The headcount reductions are equivalent to about 6.5 per cent of the bank’s roughly 49,000 employees. Managers tasked with giving staff the bad news described the process as “brutal” and morale as “horrendous” as thousands of employees turned up to work unaware of their fates. Some Goldman employees that were let go were given about half an hour to collect their coats and pack up their desks before their building access cards were deactivated, said people briefed on the process. In London, some affected bankers decamped to the Harrild & Sons pub near the bank’s Plumtree Court offices, where they commiserated with co-workers turned ex-colleagues. The pay-offs on offer to departing staff differed markedly, according to people briefed on the arrangements, although many bankers were let go without being paid a bonus for work they performed in 2022. Many managing directors — the