Goldman Sachs layoffs said to be hitting most senior fixed income sales staff

This appears to be the week that those fixed income redundancies flagged by Goldman Sachs in January are happening in London. Goldman didn’t respond to a request to comment, but various headhunters in the City said staff there are being informed around now whether they’ll still have the same jobs in the months to come.

None of the cuts are certain yet and most people are simply being put “at risk” to begin with as they enter a period in which the firm is legally obliged to look for alternative positions internally.

Goldman is said to be cutting 10% of it’s 2,500 fixed income sales and trading staff and their related infrastructure functions. Headhunters said around 40 front office roles are expected to go in London.

Anecdotally, the cuts are hitting some of Goldman’s most senior fixed income salespeople, with various MDs who’ve been with the firm for 15 years or more being terminated.

The cuts to fixed income sales staff come after this week’s Morgan Stanley and Oliver Wyman report warning that sales jobs in investment banks are at risk as banks focus their sales firepower on the most lucrative clients and leave data-driven computer programs to do the rest.

Fixed income sales and trading revenues at Goldman Sachs fell 13% last year. The bank had been upbeat about prospects for the division, but seemingly changed its mind in January. Analysts at Credit Suisse are predicting a 17% decline in trading revenues at Goldman Sachs in the first quarter.

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