Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley has laid off about 3% of its workforce, or about 2,500 people, across all divisions, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
The job cuts will span the bank’s three main divisions: investment banking and trading, wealth management and investment management, but will not affect financial advisors, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential information.
Morgan Stanley has reported that 2025 will be a banner year, with annual revenue set to break records for the investment banking giant.
The company’s fourth-quarter profit in January also beat Wall Street expectations, driven by a 47% jump in investment banking revenue as deal volume soared and debt underwriting fees nearly doubled.
Bank executives were striking an optimistic tone heading into 2026, backed by a healthy pipeline of M&A and initial public offerings.
Meanwhile, market volatility continues to weigh on trading desks as clients reposition their portfolios to hedge risk amid concerns of AI disruption to legacy technology businesses and geopolitical disruption.
The job cuts will be based on strategy and individual performance, and the bank also plans to add staff in other areas, the person added.
News of the layoffs at Morgan Stanley, which had 82,992 employees worldwide as of Dec. 31, was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Since the beginning of this year, large-scale layoffs have been occurring across U.S. companies to streamline operations as artificial intelligence tools are increasingly deployed.
Late last month, Jack Dorsey’s payments company Block announced it was cutting more than 4,000 jobs, nearly half its workforce, as part of an overhaul to incorporate AI across its operations. (Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Shinjini Ganguly)
