Goldman Sachs to chop at least 400 jobs in retail banking unit as deals fizzle: report

Goldman Sachs aims to cut at least a few hundred more jobs, Bloomberg Law reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The bank is drafting plans that could eliminate at least 400 positions from its loss-making retail banking operations, according to the report.

Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The firm cut around 500 jobs in September, an early signal to Wall Street that economic conditions were worsening.

Global banks, including Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc, have reduced their workforce in recent months as a dealmaking boom on Wall Street has fizzled out due to high interest rates and soaring inflation.

Also Monday, Goldman said it plans to stop originating unsecured consumer loans, a source familiar with the move told Reuters, in another sign the bank is stepping back from its consumer business.

The move came after Goldman signaled it was scaling back its ambitions for Marcus, the loss-making consumer unit, in October. Marcus was moved into the bank’s wealth management arm as part of a reorganization of the company’s main business units.

Goldman launched Marcus in 2016 as an online platform offering personal loans and savings accounts to retail clients. While Marcus was launched to woo mass market customers, it struggled to gain traction or introduce a checking account.

The business attracted $110 billion in deposits, made about $19 billion in loans and had more than 15 million active customers, according to the company’s third quarter earnings. The online savings account offers an interest rate of 3%, according to Marcus’ website.

Goldman will also stop beta testing for its checking account among employees, the source said. But the savings account will continue to exist because it is an important source of funding for the firm, the source added.