It’s not just tech and media workers—and, of course, federal government employees—who are facing job cuts this year. Layoffs have come for Wall Street, too. Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley is about to lay off around 2,000 individuals, according to media reports. Here’s what you need to know.
Thousands of job losses imminent
Multiple reports over the past 24 hours have revealed Morgan Stanley’s alleged upcoming layoffs. The report of imminent job losses of as many as 2,000 workers first came from Bloomberg, which cited multiple sources with knowledge of the matter. Reuters then also reported on the news, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.
Besides agreeing on the figure of 2,000 job losses, both reports also state that the cuts will take place across the majority of Morgan Stanley’s 80,000-strong workforce.
However, one group of workers is said to be spared any cuts: the company’s financial advisors, who make up about 15,000 workers at the investment firm. The 2,000 jobs are said to be being culled from the remaining 65,000-strong workforce.
Morgan Stanley has not publicly announced any job cuts. Fast Company has reached out to the firm for comment.
The cuts are being made about a year after Ted Pick became the company’s new CEO and a few months after Pick was also appointed as Morgan Stanley’s chairman. If the 2,000 figure is accurate, the cuts mean Morgan Stanley will eliminate approximately 2.5% of its workforce.
According to Bloomberg, the cuts are being made to keep costs under control. Morgan Stanley is reportedly experiencing minimal attrition rates, which would normally help control workforce costs as people decide to leave voluntarily.
Bloomberg says that those being laid off will be selected on many criteria, including performance, but some cuts will also be based on worker location. A small number of roles that can now be done with AI will also be eliminated.
Wall Street cuts jobs amid Trump presidency
It’s a common assumption that when a Republican is in office, the good times are about to roll on Wall Street. Indeed, when President Trump took office earlier this year, most industry watchers expected his second term to be a positive for Wall Street.
However, since Trump took office, the stock markets have hammered due to several Trump-linked factors. The most notable is the president’s ongoing threat of tariffs against its closest and largest trading partners, including Mexico and Canada.
Trump has also threatened most other countries in the world with the possibility of tariffs. Many economists fear that Trump’s tariff wars could lead to an all-out trade war, which would have negative implications for the global economy, not to mention small businesses.
Trump has also supported the layoffs of tens of thousands of federal employees whose terminations have been recommended by the Elon Musk-affiliated Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). While supporters say the cuts are necessary to eliminate government waste, adding tens of thousands of people to the unemployment lines will have knock-on ramifications for those people’s families, their ability to pay bills, and their local economies—all of which could lead to broader economic consequences.
However, despite the Trump-fueled economic challenges the country is facing, a source told Reuters that the Morgan Stanley layoffs are not linked to the current conditions of the markets.
Morgan Stanley isn’t the only Wall Street giant to lay off workers since Trump took office. As Reuters notes, Goldman Sachs says it will lay off 3% to 5% of its staff, and Bank of America has already laid off 150 workers in its investment banking arm.
Morgan Stanley’s stock price is down for the year
Despite the reports of imminent job cuts at Morgan Stanley, its stock has remained relatively flat since yesterday. Shares in the company (NYSE: MS) closed down 0.13% yesterday. In premarket trading today, as of the time of this writing, shares are up just half a percent.
But at its closing price of $118.11 yesterday, Morgan Stanley shares are in the red for 2025. Since the beginning of the year, shares in the company have fallen around 6%. The company’s shares closed north of $137 the day after President Trump was sworn in.
Still, longer-term investors have seen some decent gains from Morgan Stanley over the past year. In the past 12 months, MS shares are up over 34% as of yesterday’s close.
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