Fervently clutch your tear-soaked Irish cotton hanky and strike up the band of microscopic violins: Wall Street may have to let a few people go. Fears of what regulation might do to the market coupled with the reverberations of the financial crisis of 2008 are forcing firms to trim the fat. "It's a tense environment right now," an analyst told DealBook, describing the climate that has existed in the rest of the country for many years now. Most notably, Goldman Sachs is cutting "10 percent, or $1 billion, of noncompensation expenses over the next 12 months," which would be the first time the company had wide-scale layoffs since 2009. Bank of America, Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley are also tightening their belts. Where will these people find work? Wall Street, probably. Unless Wal-Mart can get their signing bonuses for greeters up to par.
Companies like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup are more diverse, with "large commercial retail banking operations," not merely trading and sales groups, so there is less impetus to cut staff. Wall Street has also "raised $29.3 billion in public offerings, up more than 200 percent from a year ago," and banks are also heavily invested in companies like LinkedIn and Pandora Media, which both recently went public, offering them new opportunities and revenue streams. Granted, it may not add up to $1 billion, but would it kill Goldman Sachs to axe their Momofuku frozen treats? Or maybe pay this guy less?
