Goldman Sachs 'could begin annual job cuts this week'

Goldman Sachs is set to begin its yearly process of implementing redundancies as early as this week, it has emerged.

Insiders with knowledge of the matter have today (26 February) informed Reuters that the major US bank is also likely to go above and beyond its usual annual cuts of around five per cent of the weakest parts of its workforce in certain divisions.

The financier is apparently preparing to announce bigger reductions in its equities trading business due to the subdued nature of volumes and earnings in this area.

By contrast, the company's fixed income arm - which incurred sizeable staff losses in 2012 but has performed more strongly this year - is likely to see cuts of below five per cent.

As such, overall redundancies are set to be in line with Goldman's standard reduction of five per cent, the sources indicated.

David Wells, spokesman for the bank, told the news source: "We remain focused on prudently managing expenses and allocating resources to ensure we are best able to meet our clients' needs and generate good returns for our shareholders."

By Asim Shah