Goldman chief says bank’s job cuts should have been earlier: FT

Goldman Sachs Group chief executive officer David Solomon said he should have gone with his instincts and acted sooner to cut jobs, the Financial Times reported.

In a private meeting in Miami with about 400 of the bank’s partners, Solomon said he was too slow in reducing the bank’s workforce even as signs of headwinds began to emerge in the second quarter of last year, people familiar with the comments told the newspaper. The report cited the CEO as saying that the eventual job cuts could have been less drastic if the bank had taken action earlier.

Goldman last month began a plan to eliminate about 3,200 positions, or 6.5 per cent, of the New York-based bank’s headcount, marking one of its largest rounds of job reductions ever. The move follows a bigger-than-expected spike in expenses and plummeting revenue and profit, prompting some analysts to predict more layoffs and other cost-cutting measures.

In his remarks to partners, Solomon also emphasised the underlying strength of Goldman’s trading and investment banking operations, according to the Financial Times.

A Goldman representative told the newspaper it would have been unusual if Solomon hadn’t addressed the job cuts at the partner meeting this year.

Goldman hosted the meeting in Miami over several days last week to talk about strategy and review presentations for the bank’s investor day set for Feb 28. BLOOMBERG