Goldman Sachs to Lay Off Over 1,300 Workers

Typically, Goldman aims to trim between 2% and 7% of its workforce annually based on various performance factors. That range has fluctuated over the years based on market conditions and Goldman’s financial outlook. 

Layoffs have already started and will continue through the fall, one of the people said. They are part of an annual review process known at Goldman as a “strategic resource assessment,” or SRA. 

“Our annual talent reviews are normal, standard, and customary, but otherwise unremarkable,” said Tony Fratto, a Goldman spokesman. Overall head count at Goldman is expected to be higher at the end of 2024 compared to 2023, he noted. 

The annual culling process measures performance using a number of variables. One factor that has become more relevant is in-office attendance. During the pandemic and its aftermath, Goldman and its peers relaxed requirements for employees to work out of firm offices. But banks are beginning to crack down on employees who don’t regularly appear in person. 

Goldman and JPMorgan Chase are among the banks that expect many employees to work from an office most days. 

Other major banks, including JPMorgan and Citigroup, have similar initiatives to cull underperformers each year. 

Goldman had paused its SRA program during the pandemic—when dealmaking hit record levels—but picked it back up in 2022, when the cuts were at the lower end of its historical range. 

That year, Goldman cut a few hundred employees in September. It then eliminated roughly 3,200 positions, or about 6% of employees, in January 2023, and prepped more layoffs that May as dealmaking slumped. Last fall, as part of its annual SRA program, Goldman made more cuts. 

In recent months, a more stable outlook for interest rates has been giving workers across Wall Street hope that dealmaking is emerging from a yearslong drought. Still, an economic setback or political upheaval could derail activity at any moment. The looming U.S. presidential election is also giving some dealmakers pause. 

Goldman, for its part, has refocused on its Wall Street operations after deciding to exit from consumer lending. 

Last month, Goldman posted a 21% increase in investment-banking revenue in the second quarter compared with a year ago. The bank also booked a 27% revenue jump in its asset- and wealth-management business. 

“From what we’re seeing, we are in the early innings of a capital markets and M&A recovery,” Goldman Chief Executive David Solomon said on a call with analysts in mid-July. 

The layoffs at Goldman come after an abysmal bonus season for workers who worked on fewer deals in 2023. 

Write to Lauren Thomas at lauren.thomas@wsj.com