Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon: Layoffs could come by mid-January

“We are conducting a careful review and while talks are ongoing, we expect our downsizing to take place in the first half of January,” Solomon said. “There are a variety of factors affecting the business landscape, including tightening monetary conditions slowing economic activity. For our leadership team, the focus is on preparing the company to weather these headwinds.”

The company could seek to cut up to 8% of its workforce or as many as 4,000 jobs to stem a slump in profits and sales, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month, although the final figure could be lower. Top managers have been asked to identify potential cost-cutting targets and no final number of job cuts has been set, the people said, asking not to be named when discussing internal considerations.

A spokesman for the New York-based company declined to comment.

“We must proceed with caution and manage our resources wisely,” Solomon said in his message.

Goldman is on track to post annual sales of about $48 billion, the second-best performance behind last year’s record. A costly foray into consumer banking and subsequent exit, as well as spending on technology and integrating operations, have contributed to the cost slump this year.

The proposed cuts would represent a stronger pullback than plans released by one of Goldman’s competitors as management struggles to meet profitability targets. Analysts are predicting the Wall Street giant’s adjusted annual profit could fall 44%.

Goldman executives have pointed out that the bank’s workforce has grown 34% since the end of 2018 to over 49,000 in the third quarter of this year.