Goldman Sachs Group to double staff cuts in the US

Goldman Sachs has told New York state regulators it’s expanding a plan to cut employees this year, potentially dismissing 109 workers.

The firm amended a February “warn notice” filed with the Department of Labor, increasing the number of affected employees from 43.

The revised filing, posted on Thursday, also extended the time frame for dismissals, saying they’ll occur between May 9th and December 31st.

The bank previously said they will be concluded by July 1st.

Neither filing indicates what kind of personnel will be cut. Both list the reason for the move as “economic.”

A company spokeswoman said she couldn’t immediately comment.

Goldman Sachs is among global investment banks that have been paring staff this year as market turmoil, low interest rates and stiffer regulations hurt profits.

The New York-based firm already decided to cut its fixed-income business deeper than a typical companywide push to eliminate underperformers, a person briefed on the matter said earlier this month.

Typically, the firm eliminates about 5 per cent of its total staff to make way for new hires.

Separately, Nomura Holdings may dismiss about 20 per cent of its workforce in North America, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Decisions aren’t final, and the ultimate number could still differ, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations.

One senior manager said reductions could be expanded to affect as much as 30 per cent of the region’s staff.

Japan’s biggest brokerage has about 2,500 employees in the Americas, most of whom work in the US and Canada.

Bloomberg