Goldman CEO Says Job Cuts are Coming, U.S. Jobless Claims Increase

Goldman CEO David Solomon admitted that the bank is planning to cut jobs due to economic reasons—a decision that comes as other big banks are also considering similar options and the United States is seeing an increase in unemployment claims.

Solomon sent his year-end message for staff. said Bloomberg reports that the firm is planning a new round in layoffs. This could be announced within the next few weeks or possibly during the first quarter of January. “There are a variety of factors impacting the business landscape, including tightening monetary conditions that are slowing down economic activity. For our leadership team, the focus is on preparing the firm to weather these headwinds,” He stated.

Goldman executives claim that the company’s workforce has increased by 34% since 2018, to 49,000 as of the third quarter 2022.

Goldman had earlier this year terminated hundreds more jobs and resumed its annual culling low performers that it had stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, the firm expects to have an annual revenue of approximately $48 billion. This would be its second best performance after last. Overall revenues fell by 20 percent during the January–September period this year compared to 2021.

Investment banks’ revenues have fallen due to market volatility and uncertainty.

Reduced Job Opportunities

Similar to Goldman, major financial institutions also made public announcements job cuts Likewise. Morgan Stanley intends to reduce 2 percent of its workforce to approximately 1,600 employees.

Citigroup, Barclays and others have already started to cut jobs by the hundreds. Bank of America wants to hire fewer employees. According to a report by Bank of America, the fees for fundraisings and takeovers has fallen by about 50 percent between 2021 and 2022. The Washington Post.

A Dec. 1st report Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a business and executive coach firm, noted that U.S.-based employers announced 76,835 job losses in November. This is a 417 percent increase over October, and 127 percent more than November 2021.

Up to November, 25 percent of tech jobs were eliminated in the sector. The auto sector saw the most job cuts in 2022. This is an increase of 198 percent over the previous year. The real estate industry saw job cuts rise by 187%, the financial sector saw 105 more workers go, and the financial technology sector saw layoffs increase by 1,272 percentage.

The following is an interview with Bloomberg last month, Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi predicted that the United States will be going through a tough period next year.

“The Federal Reserve’s going to do everything it can to get inflation, and they’re going to succeed one way or the other. So, I think 2023 is going to be a pretty tough year. Certainly, we’re going to see job growth slow, may see some declines, unemployment’s going to rise,” He stated.

Unemployment Claims

According to data from Department of Labor, despite companies announcing job losses, unemployment benefits applications in the United States increased last week.

“In the week ended December 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 225,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 216,000. The four-week moving average was 221,000, a decrease of 250 from the previous week’s revised average,” According to a press release The Department of Labor published the following Dec. 29th announcement.

The number of continuing claims, which is the number who have previously applied for benefits and still receive them, increased by 41,000 to 1.71 Million for the week ending Dec. 17.

This is the most since February. This is a sign that people who are out of work are having difficulty finding jobs.

Naveen Atrappully is a reporter for The Epoch Times covering world and business events.