GS Layoffs hit NY
Any details? Groups, level?
Summary
TMT: 12 Across NY and SF
FIG: ~10% of FIG
HC: 7+ Asso/ VPs
CRG: 1 VP, 2 associates, 1 analyst
IND: 2 ASO, 3 VP, 1 MD
HK: 25+ bankers
5+ Associates across all Classic groups; including As1’s
“Seems like 10%+ for many groups. More than the 1-3% "bottom performer" cuts media claimed. Seems like cost cutting in a downturn, not re-instating performance reviews at all (not that we should be surprised they're trying to spin it)”
“I'm pretty middle/upper-mid bucket and like many of those who were let go, I've put in so much fucking work into this job and have a good work product. Morale among my class is so low right now and I'm going to start looking around”
Bump
Well one person said in another thread a couple analysts found out the hard way when their card access no longer worked and security escorted them...
This is like those chain mail emails/texts where if you don’t forward to 5 of your friends, then your parents will die
hint: it’s not real
What’s the typical GS severance in these situations? Just curious
At gs ny and can confirm some analysts key cards didn't work. Super brutal way to be let go.
how is this possible if they didn’t do anything wrong
Being a non-target is a lifelong sin at GS
It can happen on a bad day.
Haven’t been able to confirm this. Which groups?
poll on linkedin about the worst way you could find out you've been laid off
wtf that's so spinless, literally so fucked. Could they not just send an email? Or an in-person sit-down? massive cowards. literally cowardice by those who run the organization is the only excuse. Oh wahh is baby too scared of a little confrontation from their employee?
Need to start asking company leaders in interviews "how would you handle layoffs? or a situation in which layoffs might occur?"
wouldn't recommend!
This sounds like this can't possibly be right. Who in their right mind would terminate an employee in this manner? Unless you thought there was a security/physical threat, they know they would receive tremendous negative blowback (not that they would care in the long run) if they terminated this way. I mean, for all the shit Goldman gets, is there nobody decent in the higher-ups/HR that would say, "No, this is the wrong way to do it, the decent thing to do is to call him/her in, have a brief discussion and send them on their way." I know it's possible, but was the winning philosophy really, "F that, let's just deactivate their keycards, totally ghost the F outta them and maybe send them their belongings"?
Oh honey
this happened in 2008 when 95% of merrill's analyst class was let go subsequent to bofa merger. key cards were just shut off
Yeah, investment banks are known for being polite and gentle.
"Human? What do you mean they're human?"
- Goldman Sachs, BofA, JPMorgan...
"Human Capital"
spend enough time in this industry and nothing makes sense.
To your point, I don't know how people sometimes rectify that they treated people correctly, but somehow they do in their head.
gotta love these threads... everyone has absolute loyalty to their firms, as with most streets in NY, loyalty on wall street is truly "one way."
Ha, I wrote the post above you, and even I think your response is funny. Look, I know they're the Evil Empire and all, but still, you would think they would show a sliver of compassion. (can't give you a "banana" because I'm apparently out of them, or something like that).
nah i used to work there. you're spot on it's ridiculous
Guy has a point. Grinding analysts to the bone, GS 13, protected Saturdays, massive lateral hiring, massive cold firing…all in 18 months. Seems fucked
You'd think that but after they announced they along with other firms last week would be making layoffs I witnessed some of their bankers at a conference in broad daylight laughing about it and cracking jokes.
Goldman down so bad rn lmao. Here at FTP ($140k as an1 btw) we don’t fire our analysts, we simply overwork them until they quit. Idiot shit tier bulge bracket behavior smh.
Do you actually work at FTP? Haha is it still 100 hr work weeks there?
Personally working similar hours to my friends at other banks.
Honestly this never gets old idk why
pwned cuz FTP was founded by an ex-GS
so true
Can confirm that it’s still horrendous. Heard from a friend over there that the London office ground their interns into the dust so badly that barely anyone wanted to return. The seniors literally had to call and convince the ones who got offers to sign
this shit pisses me off. knowing that those kids likely just wanted to have a good summer experience and learn about the industry but got absolutely destroyed instead is unacceptable
yeah heard even in the PE arm, SAs were absolutely crushed
For every employee that gets thrown out the door like Jazzy Jeff:
You got 10 hardos lining up and drooling at the thought of getting used and abused. GS can do what they want.
pretty much - GS has always looked out for GS but they always have a line of wannabe simps lining outside the door no matter what they do. 5 days a week back at work, horrible hours, comp usually not great (barring last year), etc and people will still fall over themselves to go there.
And it's at every level. Not just front office. Have seen people take pretty sh*tty back office jobs there just for the brand name. And I admit it, the one person I'm thinking of - the brand name did help them in the long term once they left the big banks and entered more of a boutique firm environment (for clients and employers, Goldman's name does carry a "prestige" factor).
The brand helps me to this day 9 years after leaving people still say “good pedigree” and stuff like that. Don’t regret spending time there got what I wanted
It was a bloodbath across IBD, people from all levels were laid off. Associates got hit particularly hard.
Any deets on number/groups?
All over the Classic groups, ECM and LevFin also hit hard. A bunch of solid people were let go, it mostly seemed like new 1Y were safe but everyone else was fair game.
VPs, Analyst let go across Consumer as well
Ligma Sacks never surprises
Did they layoff more people in HC after the analyst walk out?
How likely is it that they will start rescinding SA offers?
.
It does not destroy relationships. Do you think the schools will decline to invite Goldman on campus the following year? Do you really believe that?
Heard GS Hong Kong laid off several coverage and ECM people. Mostly Analysts, Associates, and some VPs.
Can confirm 30+ across HK, Shanghai and Beijing, from analysts up to MDs
They gutted those offices, holy shit.
Yeah pretty broad cuts across coverage and product teams, MD down to Analyst.
Still have many friends at GS. The vibe I got is that there are a surprising number of people who have been slacking off, not coming back into office, or are just legitimately unable to do the job well. GS is an obviously competitive place and the bar was really lowered during pandemic lateral hiring. Now the bars being raised even higher than normal in this market.
So imagine there will be mostly performance cuts, but like everything unfortunately also sounds like some decent performers got caught in the mix, particularly mid-levels where they didn’t see senior banker potential.
If it’s just performance cuts it’s one thing. I think many fear there will continue to be broader cuts if conditions continue.
Agreed - I saw a lot of senior assoc/junior VP in my group cut who weren’t bad at all… just not the “top”/“best”. That was the shittiest part.
Correct on live deal and our team got cut in 1/2.. pretty insane. MD has yet to tell our team, found out through the other analyst that were left
Some pretty good associates and VPs were laid off in my group. Definitely there’s a real push to cut costs and not the culling of bottom 5%.
Any news of cutting London or the other US offices?
Does anyone have the final numbers? Heard 5+ associates in many of the classic groups including associates just over 1 YoE get the axe.
5+ Associates in each group or total?
Each group, most from the class that hit the desk 1 year ago.
Brutal
Each group
Were any analysts who just hit the desk laid off? Or was it mostly those who’ve been on the desk for a year?
bump
Were any return offers pulled back for those that interned this past summer?
No. Shut up
no but London GS has cut headcount for FT 2023 from this year's SA class
groups that usually took 5 every year now taking 3 etc
12 laid off split across TMT in New York and SF
any analysts?
What % is that roughly?
Group is like 100… so 12%
EDIT: I think pro forma ebitda below is more accurate. It’s a very bloated group
Damn, that'd suck to start as an analyst at GS TMT, thinking you've made it to the top of Wall Street only to get laid off 3 months later
All jokes aside, any data for other groups? How do the layoffs compare to FIG, IND, HC?
FIG they laid off ~10% of the group as well.
Nah, first years were safe
I honestly haven't heard much of the layoffs, but most of my connections that graduated a couple of years before me have been transitioning out of BB firms in droves, basically saying there isn't enough deal flow in most bulge brackets to compete with EB comp.
Had to offset the Mclaren F1 sponsorship somehow
This thread really puts to rest the notion that only MDs/Ds/VPs are in the firing line for these types of circumstances.
Analysts and some junior associates always say they are too cheap to be a focus of firing in recessions. That's categorically nonsensical. You just fire more.
The difference is that there's much more resiliency in that stage of life for their careers than the weaker VP and MD's who are let go.
What type of severence package did they get?
6-12 months garden
I've heard until end of 2022
OP Here
I’ve added a summary to the OP. Can those from GS respond to this comment with firm data points? I’ll continue to add
OP the 12 laid off in TMT is not analyst only
At least seven at VP/Associate level in HC across the US. All were solid, none bottom bucket.
Am at GS, am in HC.
I'm an incoming summer analyst with GS HC NYC. How tough will it be to get a return next summer? How's deal flow atm?
Unless the economy is still this shitty for another year or two it will probably be back to usual next summer for SA programs. You gotta remember you aren’t going to be a full time analyst for two years
any idea what the logic is behind this?
I could understand a cyclical sector or product team but HC is one of the most active sectors in the world with potentially huge EVs deals, growth equity pipeline, specialist knowledge & relationships straddle across academica-industry-finance lol
Could you PM me please?
Any news on industrials?
^^^
2 ASO, 3 VP, 1 MD
Have friends who are incoming FT analysts at GS, they're kinda stressed about the current situation
gs has always been a sharp elbowed place. honestly, if you signed up to go there you should know what to expect.
its like heading over to citadel and being stressed about getting let go (part of the game there).
goods news is that GS is a great place to get laid off from, plenty of places willing to take a look at GS ex person
i was let go from citadel lmao. this post is spot on +1
Wouldn’t be stressed incoming. Also got to remember that it’s really only in headlines because it’s GS. Other banks have or will be doing layoffs as well, this is not a GS-specific thing.
How many people in the group?
~100
Was CRG the only group who let analysts go?
Anyone else looking at these and not all that surprised? The numbers do not seem to be huge. 5 associates across coverage groups sounds like cutting of low performers IMO, not mass layoffs. Maybe I am wrong.
edit: I thought it was 5 Total across all coverage, 5 at each group is definitely layoffs. Sheesh.
I think folks internally are shocked because there were a good chunk of middle bucket folks that were let go, while people that we thought were going to be part of the cuts weren’t
This x 100... good people cut, some shitty people and analyst still around
Nah I was pretty horrified to hear the volume of cuts. GS pre-COVID would lay off the absolute underperformers but it was never to this degree, usually just 1 or 2 folks that did questionable things in their tenure, and pretty much localized to senior folk. (I’m a first year aso in a coverage group at GS that did A2A, my brother was at GS between 2016-2018).
Sure, a few that were let go weren’t great but many others I knew and worked with were competent and solid performers in work product… those ones probably didn’t play the politics game well enough and were the first to go in these cuts when seniors had to pick and choose. It’s just shitty to hear about those middle-bucket performers getting let go because I know some of them busted their asses for the job and got legitimate health issues from the hours… only to be met with this news.
Also it’s pretty fucked because one associate in my group that was let go told me that he had super typical performance reviews with no red flags, was not put on any sort of PIP, had no indication from the firm he was an underperformer at risk and was never spoken to about underperformance of any sort. The GS feedback system is really dumb because everyone tends to get the same bullshit “areas of improvement” since it’s required to list them and unless you’ve done something heinous there is only so much you can list there. “Can improve on technicals?” even the ones that are doing just fine on modeling get this because sure you can always be better at it. “Attention to detail”, “be more proactive” yes because you can mitigate errors and try to help out as much as possible but when you’re on 5 live deals and on 3 hours of sleep, things will slip through the cracks and you’re not gonna be on top of saying “anything else I can help with!!!!”
sorry for the rant, but I’m still reeling from the news. I’m safe for now, sure. But I’m not top bucket so yeah I’m really fucking scared of additional layoffs. I’m pretty middle/upper-mid bucket and like many of those who were let go, I’ve put in so much fucking work into this job and have a good work product. Morale among my class is so low right now and I’m going to start looking around
Do you think you will be hiring for full time analysts to replace any people getting laid off?
This. Folks expected to lose the 1-2 worst performers of the group. In reality it was a bunch of average people who never saw it coming. Morale is low.
Seems like 10%+ for many groups. More than the 1-3% “bottom performer” cuts media claimed. Seems like cost cutting in a downturn, not re-instating performance reviews at all (not that we should be surprised they’re trying to spin it).
All of this fuckery and the big boss Solomon still DJ'ing on the side lol.
Lol DJ Sol may be apart of his own layoffs plan
Honestly the audacity of him doing this is kind of a massive fuck you to everyone who actually does work and has a real job there
It's almost as if the ceo could've spared people from layoffs for the cost of spending $140m on 2 private jets so that he could arrive at lollapalooza in style
Rumors of more rounds coming. Feels like fake news but anyone know for sure?
Do you mean in the next week or so or in the coming months?
If the former, banks usually try to rip the band aid off quick. Layoffs generally happen in 2 day periods.
All that said, I have no fucking idea
I think this is 99% of the layoffs, they may cut middle/back office peeps later.
Anyone know number for RE coverage?
50%
I heard 1
Do you know what level role?
As far as I saw, the media reported that they were resuming the usual annual 10% cuts, which they paused for 2 years during covid... so probably more than 10% is likely.
Cuts largely focused on junior mid level (senior associates, junior VPs) even if performing. MDs not really consulted. ECM and Levfin hit hard with some MDs impacted. Heard there may be further cuts
How did they come up with who to cut?
DJ D Sol flips a coin
Mostly family ties, then among those remaining =RANDBETWEEN()
Timing of these layoffs was intentional and an attempt at returning to the "old" normal. They wanted to do it when all the 1st years had just hit the desk in an attempt to soften their willpower and strike fear into them to comply with what DSol is telling the press. Managers are telling juniors that there's no more slow/late mornings and that juniors are expected to be in between 8-9am 6 days per week now and they likely expect if they can scare enough people to get critical mass that they can operate like 2019 again.
6 days a week?
even back office at GS works sundays - where have you been? if it's not in the office on sunday you're on the chopping block
Was in 6 days a week as a SA, usually still put in at least 8 hours on Sunday
Sounds like slavery....
Is there any chance that GS still recruits for CO2023 FT associate?
Among other c-level executives there has been a lot of annoyance about not being able to terminate people we want to and hold our teams to a higher standard because of the labor market dynamics present from 2020 to 2021.
As soon as things slowed down this year I started terminating and refilling those roles for less $ and with better people.
I wonder how much of these are a buildup of that sentiment from senior management?
COVID severely distorted what a normal labor market looks like. Massive pay increases, impossible to get fired, etc.
This is rich.
Covid made clear that a business model of treating employees like trash and paying them bad comp was not sustainable when everyone had their own personal ephinany that working for PE slumlords like yourself who fire off people for synergies was not worth their time.
Cannot wait for when rates continue to explode and your cannot finance anymore of your shitty deals that are predicated on firing people to reach your IRR hurdles.
Good take
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