Goldman Staff Said Bracing For Job Cuts, JPMorgan To Reduce Headcount By 4,000

Goldman Sachs will begin its annual job cutting process as early as this week, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday, with its equities-trading business bracing for bigger cuts than fixed-income trading.

Reuters reports that the firm usually culls out the weakest 5% of its employees around now following annual appraisals, but the cuts will likely be deeper in some businesses, particularly equities trading, where volumes and earnings are weak.

Fixed-income trading at Goldman, which took big hits last year but has had better volumes this year, will likely see cuts of less than 5%, the sources said.

'As market activity has picked up in certain areas, we remain focused on prudently managing expenses and allocating resources to ensure we are best able to meet our clients' needs and generate good returns for our shareholders', said Goldman spokesman David Wells, who declined to comment on layoffs.

In the meantime, Bloomberg reports that JPMorgan Chase expects headcount to decline by about 4,000 in 2013 as Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon targets mortgage operations for cuts.

Dimon is seeking expense reductions of $1bn after posting three straight years of record net income.

Goldman to begin fresh round of job cuts: sources

JPMorgan Expects Headcount to Fall by About 4,000 This Year