Goldman Sachs Plans Thousands of Layoffs, Expects to Eliminate Some Bonuses

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is planning to lay off several thousand employees, according to people familiar with the matter, another consequence of this year’s deal-making slump.

A person familiar with the situation said the bank will be leaner in 2023, but it will still have more employees than it did before the pandemic. Goldman had some 49,000 employees as of September, up from about 38,000 at the end of 2019.

Goldman also expects to slash, and in some cases eliminate, the annual bonuses of underperforming employees, people familiar with the matter said.

Like other Wall Street banks, Goldman hired aggressively throughout 2020 and 2021, bringing in new employees to help it keep up with an M&A boom. This year was a different story: An economic slowdown, war in Europe and rising interest rates triggered a bear market for stocks and a slump in deal making. Morgan Stanley also laid off workers this month, and similar cutbacks have swept through American companies.