Morgan Stanley has cut around 3% of its global workforce, amounting to roughly 2,500 jobs, with the reductions affecting employees across the bank’s three main divisions, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter.
The report stated that the layoffs span the bank’s core business segments including investment banking and trading, wealth management and investment management. However, financial advisers were not impacted by the cuts.
According to the Wall Street Journal report, the job reductions are linked to shifts in business priorities, adjustments to office locations and employee performance in specific roles. The measures are being implemented both in the United States and internationally.
The report added that within the wealth management division, the latest round of cuts affected private bankers as well as staff in support roles. Among those impacted are employees responsible for handling home loans for high-net-worth clients.
The workforce reductions come despite a strong financial year for the bank. Morgan Stanley, which employs around 83,000 people globally, reported record annual revenue in 2025 across both its investment banking and trading operations as well as its wealth management business.
Investment banking revenue rose by 47% during the year, while dealmaking activity accelerated significantly and debt underwriting fees nearly doubled, according to the report.
People familiar with the matter informed the Wall Street Journal that many employees were notified about the layoffs on Wednesday, although the process had begun the previous week. The bank has also carried out multiple rounds of workforce reductions over the past several years.
Looking ahead, a separate report by Reuters indicated that Morgan Stanley executives remain optimistic about 2026, pointing to strong pipelines for mergers, acquisitions and initial public offerings. Trading activity has also remained elevated amid volatile markets, driven partly by concerns about artificial intelligence disrupting legacy technology firms and geopolitical tensions prompting clients to hedge risks and reposition portfolios.
The latest job cuts also reflect a broader trend across the finance and technology sectors, where companies have been streamlining operations and investing more heavily in artificial intelligence tools. For example, payments company Block Inc., led by Jack Dorsey, recently announced plans to eliminate more than 4,000 jobs, nearly half of its workforce, as part of an effort to integrate AI more deeply across its operations.